The Dream Crystal
by Dawn Firestorm
Summary: Emerald Destiny's life is turned upside down when she and her two best friends are abducted by two cloaked figures. She is thrown into a world she thought to be fiction, discovering secrets about those around her, and, especially, herself.
1. First Chapter

I looked around me. There was a mist everywhere, but not a foggy kind of mist. It was the kind of mist you see when you're swimming in cloudy water. Was I under water, though? Just to make sure, I inhaled deeply, and then exhaled. Yes, I could breathe just fine.  
  
Suddenly, there was a bang like a cannon, a scream, a flash of scarlet light, and an evil cackle. I felt a sharp, burning pain in my heart; I hugged my knees to my chest, my face screwed up against the pain... "Good morning, L.A! The time is 6:30 AM and the weather forecast for today is partially cloudy with a high temperature of 87 degrees Fahrenheit..."  
  
My hand automatically flung to the "off" button on my alarm clock. As soon as that annoying voice disappeared, I thought about the strange dream I had just dreamed. I had had that dream before. Every night for two weeks now, I had been dreaming the same thing. What did it all mean?  
  
I thought back to the first time I had dreamed it. The only thing unusual that happened to me that day was right after school, when I was walking home with my two best friends, Lily and Sycamore. We were talking, mainly about our day at school, boys we liked, and most of all, Harry Potter. It was the thing that had made us become friends in the first place. If we weren't all obsessed with those wonderful books, it would've been less than likely that we would've been friends.  
  
We were on the subject of what might be coming in future books when a glint of gold caught my eye. I walked over to where I had seen it and picked up a beautiful necklace. The charm was a crystal heart. It had gold trim on the very edge, and (it might've been the light) but I was sure it had a soft golden hue around it.  
  
"Wow, Em, that's beautiful!" Sycamore exclaimed. Her brown eyes were wide in awe of the treasure I had in my hand.  
  
"What do you suppose it was doing on the ground?" Lily asked. "Do you think someone dropped it?"  
  
"Maybe," I said. "Should we take it to the police? It looks really valuable."  
  
"We could, but I doubt they'd find the owner," Lily said, her finger twirling her short blonde hair.  
  
"Go on, Em, try it on!" Sycamore said suddenly.  
  
"Okay," I replied. I undid the clasp and hooked it behind my neck. Whenever the heart caught the light from the sun, it would twinkle as brightly as a star in the night sky. Lily and sycamore would "ooh!" and "ahh!" every time. "Emerald, are you up yet?" called my mom.  
  
"Just about!" I called back. You may not think that finding that necklace was weird, but it was. When I tried to take it off that night, I couldn't find the clasp. I turned the chain around and around, but the clasp had just vanished! I also hadn't been very popular in school, but the next day, Alex, the most popular guy in school, and the guy every girl (myself included) had a crush on, came up and asked me to the Valentine's Day dance (which has past, and it was great!). I, of course, answered yes, and when he walked away, I turned to Lily and Sycamore, my mouth hanging open in disbelief. "Emerald, your breakfast is getting cold!" shouted Mom from the kitchen.  
  
"Coming!" I shouted back. I dressed myself in a pink tank top with the word "Angel" in a cloud on it and a pair of dark blue caprice before going downstairs for breakfast. After breakfast, I brushed my teeth, put my hair into a ponytail, and put on my make-up. According to Lily, Sycamore, and me, this was the normal morning routine for a typical 15 year old girl.  
  
I scooped up my backpack and lunch, shouted, "Bye, Mom, I love you!" and ran out the door to meet Lily and Sycamore at the corner. I had been telling them about the dream ever since the first time I had dreamed it. The only thing that was different about it was that there was a little more each time. What were new this time were the evil laughter and the pain in my heart. "You're kidding!" exclaimed Lily when I told her about the updated dream.  
  
"No," I said, shaking my head.  
  
"What do you think the dream means?" asked Sycamore slowly.  
  
"I don't know," I replied, shrugging. "I do know one thing, though: the pain in my heart was right where my scar is."  
  
"No way!" Lily gasped, her eyes getting even wider.  
  
"Yes," I said. There was a funny shaped scar on my heart, like a little star. The funny thing about it was that I can't remember getting it. Whenever I asked my mom about it, she always said that I had gotten it when I was in an accident when I was a baby. She never met my eyes when she said this, though, and I had the funny feeling that she was hiding something from me.  
  
"That is too weird," said Sycamore. "It sounds way too much like a Harry Potter dream thing, doesn't it?"  
  
"You mean, like the ones he had before he knew he was a wizard?" asked Lily.  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Oh come on, guys, you don't seriously think that, do you?" I asked, rolling my eyes.  
  
"Em, the dreams are really similar. For instance, yours had a flash of light; Harry's had a flash of light. Yours had an evil cackle, Harry's had an evil cackle," Lily began.  
  
"And, you felt a pain in your scar at the end, and so did Harry!" Sycamore finished for her.  
  
"I know they're a lot alike, but I can't possibly be a witch. For one thing, I'm 15. If I were a witch, don't your think I would've gotten notice by now?" I asked them.  
  
"Maybe you haven't developed you powers yet," said Sycamore. I groaned.  
  
"How about we discuss this later? We have three tests today, remember? Math-"  
  
"Science," said Lily.  
  
"And history," continued Sycamore. "We know, Em. We have the same classes."  
  
"Why do they put us through this torture?" whined Lily. "Why do they schedule three tests on the same day?"  
  
"Don't ask me how the mind of a teacher works, Lil," I said.  
  
"All this studying is going to kill me one day," Sycamore sighed.  
  
"I'd much rather be a student at Hogwarts," said Lily dreamily. "Wouldn't it be wonderful?"  
  
"Ah, if only," I said, smiling. I heard a rustling behind me, and turned sharply. There was no one and nothing in site.  
  
"What, Em?" said Sycamore.  
  
"I thought I heard something," I said. "Probably just the wind."  
  
"Yeah, probably," said Lily, nodding. "C'mon, we'd better pick up the pace, or we'll be late."  
  
"Okay," I said. I slowly back around, still looking nervously behind me. For some strange reason, I felt like we were being watched. I managed to have a perfectly normal day, despite that prickling feeling I had whenever I turned my back. The tests weren't all bad, and on the good side, we didn't have any homework.  
  
"No homework is always a good thing," said Lily, stretching as we walked home.  
  
"Definitely," agreed Sycamore.  
  
"Yep. No homework means more time on the web, and more time on the web means more time to read Harry Potter fanfics, which is always a wonderful thing," I said happily. There was nothing better than reading fanfics on the web, except for reading the Harry Potter books.  
  
"Do you guys want to sleep over at my place tonight?" Lily asked.  
  
"Sure!" Sycamore and I exclaimed at once. We always had fun at Lily's. Prank phone calls, endless hours online, you name it; we could do anything at Lily's. I was really looking forward to the furious pillow fights, games, gossiping, and anything else we might do at Lily's that night. Little did I know that tonight would change my life forever. I was peering down at the dark street through Lily's window when I first noticed something odd. A shadowy figure was lurking around the thick trees that surrounded Lily's house. It had on a hooded cloak, and it looked short.  
  
"Lil, Sycamore, come here!" I hissed, not taking my eyes off the figure. It was now pacing back and forth, apparently waiting for someone... or something.  
  
"Creepy," whispered Lily.  
  
"Who do you think it is?" asked Sycamore.  
  
"I don't know," I said. Suddenly, a second figure emerged from the trees. It was taller than the first. The two figures had a hurried conversation (we could see their heads bent together, like a two-man huddle) and then they parted. The second figure suddenly stopped, and, as though it could sense us watching it, turned its head slowly up toward the window we were huddled against. I had one glimpse of two fierce, bright red eyes before I fell to the ground, clutching my chest. My scar was burning... I could hardly breathe... darkness was closing in all around me... and then the pain diminished. I stood up and gasped for breath, clutching the window sill for support.  
  
Lily and Sycamore were frozen in fear. Their eyes were as wide and round as dinner plates. They were staring at something behind me. I turned slowly and shakily around. "Oh my God!" I whispered, backing up to the window. The two figures we had seen below were now standing in Lily's room! They had their hoods down now. The shorter one had small, watery eyes and a pointed nose. I saw a glint of silver where his right hand should've been. The other man was taller. He had two and two wide, gleaming red eyes, and two slits for a nose. My scar seared with a sharp, quick pain as soon as I looked at him. I dropped my gaze to the floor.  
  
"Who are you?" asked Lily.  
  
"What do you want?" asked Sycamore shakily.  
  
"You know very well what we want," whispered the taller figure. He had a cold, high, merciless voice. I shivered; it was like I had heard that voice when I was very young.  
  
"What are you talking about?" I asked. I honestly didn't know what he meant. Then, it all clicked, and I knew what they wanted, and who they were. I still can't believe I was so slow at figuring it out. "This must be a dream! You aren't... you can't be..."  
  
The taller man nodded and grinned evilly. Everything must've clicked for Lily and Sycamore, too, for they started to stutter uncontrollably.  
  
"Ohmigod!" said Lily, wide-eyed.  
  
"Ohmigod!" exclaimed Sycamore. "We are in trouble!"  
  
"Very deep trouble," hissed the taller man, pulling out a wand. Before we could scream, before we could do anything, we had all been Stunned. I looked around. There was a watery mist everywhere. Not this dream again, I thought. Sure enough, a bang like a cannon shattered the silence. Then a flash of light filled my surroundings, and the scream came. This time, however, I heard something before the evil cackling. It was a woman's voice.  
  
"Please, don't hurt her! She's only a baby!" she cried.  
  
"Move aside and let me do what I came here to do." This was a man's voice. It sounded icy, merciless, and... deadly.  
  
"No, please, spare her!" sobbed the woman. "Kill me, kill me instead of her!" Then I heard the evil cackling, then the pain in my heart, and I woke up, drenched in cold sweat, to find two watery eyes staring into mine. I gave a small yelp, like a puppy cornered by a man with a machine gun.  
  
The man walked away from me... or, at least, he backed up a few paces. I could now clearly see my surroundings. There was red everywhere; red furniture, red walls, and even a red strip of carpet in the middle of the floor.  
  
I sat up, and the room began to sway. As I raised my hand to my head, I heard the rattling of chains. My wrists were chained to the headboard of the bed I was sitting on. Then a sudden thought stuck me.  
  
"Where're Lily and Sycamore?" I asked quietly to the short man.  
  
"Who?" His voice sounded nervous, almost as if he were afraid of me.  
  
"My... my friends. They were with me when..."  
  
"Oh, you mean Lady Victoria and Lady Pristina?"  
  
"Who?" "Let me explain," came a smooth voice from the doorway. The man jumped, turned quickly around, and bowed very low.  
  
"Lady Victoria, Lady Pristina," he said, "may I ask you why you have come down to this level? Surely, ladies like yourselves would-"  
  
But I didn't hear anymore. Who was he talking to? That was Lily and Sycamore standing in the doorway. They looked different, though. Their faces usually glowed with laughter, and their eyes usually twinkled, but now, their faces looked cruel and their eyes were cold. They were dressed differently, too. Instead of the p.j.'s they had been wearing when we were kidnapped, they were wearing long red dresses trimmed in gold. They were wearing identical necklaces; a golden snake with glowing ruby eyes for the charm.  
  
"That's enough, Wormtail," said Sycamore, holding up a hand to silence him. He did so at once.  
  
"Lil, Sycamore, what's going on?" I asked.  
  
"I am not Lil, or Lily anymore," Lily said, a look of disgust on her face. "I am Victoria; Lady Victoria to you."  
  
"And I am no longer Sycamore," said Sycamore. "I am Pristina; Lady Pristina to you." Despite of the fear spreading throughout my body, my face cracked into a wide grin.  
  
"This is a great joke, guys," I said. "Now, if you don't mind-"  
  
"This is no joke, Emerald," spat Lily, or should I say, Lady Victoria. "We are no longer your 'best friends.' Pristina and I are the daughters of the most powerful wizard in a century and heir to his 'throne' when he is dead."  
  
"You're witches?" I said, stunned. This wasn't a joke. They would've come clean if I'd suspected a joke. "And you never told me? You know how much I love magic, and you never told me you were witches?"  
  
"Of course we never told you," sneered Lil- I mean, Lady Victoria. This is going to take some getting used to. "It was part of our father's plan."  
  
"Your father's plan? The way you described him, I wouldn't be surprised if he was-" "Lord Voldemort?" laughed Syc- Lady Pristina. "It took you long enough to guess."  
  
"No way! But... as far as I know, he never had any kids. I didn't think he would want any," I said.  
  
"That changed after he read one of the Sacred Scrolls, Emerald. The Scroll spoke of two young witches who would help the heir of Slytherin become even more powerful. Those two witches would be abandoned on a hill. Father sent his Death Eaters out around the country to search for them. They searched for months, and they had almost given up hope when a Death Eater returned to Father with... us," hissed Lady Victoria. "Oh," I whispered. "But, if he's your father, what were you doing in California? Why would you pretend to be a... a muggle's friends?"  
  
"You are not a muggle, Emerald," said Lady Pristina softly. "You are not a native Californian. You were born in England to one of the most powerful wizarding families in the world."  
  
"I'm a witch?" I exclaimed. A flare of happiness rose inside of me. My dream had come true; witches and wizards did exist, and I was one of them! "So I take it we aren't in California anymore."  
  
"We aren't even in the same dimension," said Lady Victoria.  
  
"We're in another dimension?" I asked, dumb-founded. "But why would you go through so much trouble to get me here?"  
  
"It's a complicated story," said Lady Pristina. "I don't feel like explaining. Let's go, Victoria, I can't stand being down here for one more moment."  
  
"Yes, let's. Good-night, Wormtail," said Lady Victoria. Wormtail bowed them out of the room. There was a moment of silence, and I suddenly realized how tired I was. I laid back down on the bed, and as soon as my head hit the pillow, I fell asleep. 


	2. Second Chapter

There was a golden haze everywhere. This is new, I thought. I wonder what happened to the other dream.  
  
"Well," said a warm voice, "Would you like me to tell you? I believe I have the answers to many of your questions."  
  
I jumped and whipped around. There was no one and nothing in site, even though I could sense something there.  
  
"Calm down," said the warm voice, "I won't hurt you. Besides, it's my job to protect you."  
  
"Okay," I said. I felt I could trust who ever I was talking to. "So, you said you can answer my questions. First of all, can you tell me who you are?"  
  
"Actually, I'm more of a what," laughed the warm voice. "I'm the spirit of the Dream Crystal. You can call me D.C."  
  
"Okay. D.C," I said, remembering something, "I have soooo many questions. Like, what's the Dream Crystal? What are the Sacred Scrolls? And why on EARTH am I here?" "The best way I can explain this is through a story," said D.C.  
  
"A story?"  
  
"Yes, Emerald, a story. It begins 16 years ago, when the Dark Lord discovered the Sacred Scrolls. There are two Sacred Scrolls. One is called the Dark, and the other is called the Light.  
  
"The Dark Lord had been searching for a long, long while for these mythical Scrolls. He finally found them after 5 years of searching, exactly 6 months before you were born. It took him another 4 months to translate the Scrolls from the language they were written in, and yet another 3 months to read them. Then, as you already know, he sent his Death Eaters to look for the 2 witches mentioned in the Dark. Sure enough, on Death Eater found two girls wrapped in a red blanket in a cave a few months after they had been sent out." "But what happened after Voldemort vanished? What happened to them?" I asked, feeling more and more like child listening to a bedtime story.  
  
"A faithful supporter of Voldemort took care of them until Wormtail escaped over a year ago," said D.C. patiently.  
  
"And then?"  
  
"Voldemort sent them to find you and the Dream Crystal."  
  
"D.C., you still haven't told me what that thing is."  
  
"The necklace you found. I'll teach you how to use the Powers soon. You'll need them."  
  
"Powers?" I asked, bemused. "What are they?"  
  
"You'll find out soon, Emerald. Anyway, back to the story.  
  
"Now, I haven't said much about the Light. This Scroll is the reason you and Harry have your scars. Voldemort saw you as threats."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"According to the light, a powerful witch and the heir of Gryffindor would join together to bring the heir of Slytherin down once and for all. Voldemort knew that the heir of Gryffindor was James Potter, and that he had a son, Harry. He also knew that you were the witch mentioned in the Light. He decided to block your powers because he knew you wouldn't be a threat afterwards. That's where you got you scar."  
  
"What about Harry? Why'd Voldemort want to kill him?"  
  
"That I do not know," sighed D.C.  
  
"Oh," I said. "But do you know why I was in another dimension?"  
  
"To protect you. You'll find out why later," said D.C.  
  
"Okay. I guess I can fit the rest of the puzzle together myself. Victoria and Pristina were sent to find me, so they disguised themselves to gain my trust, and then they sent word to Voldemort when I found the Dream Crystal. Am I right, D.C.?" I asked. "Yes," D.C. replied. "You'll be waking up soon, Emerald. Don't let anyone know about this. Voldemort doesn't know how fast your powers came back after you found the Dream Crystal. Know this, too: Voldemort can't get the Dream Crystal unless you give it to him. If you give it to him, then there'll be no stopping him." "I understand, D.C. I promise I won't, even if he uses the Cruciatus Curse on me 100 times," I smiled weakly. "He probably will."  
  
Before D.C. could respond, I felt myself being shaken awake. The golden haze faded, and I opened my eyes. A hooded figure was crouched over me, shaking me awake. "Stop shaking me, I'm up," I yawned as my head flipped back and forth. The figure stopped shaking me, and then it spoke in a raspy voice.  
  
"Get dressed," he commanded.  
  
"Into what?" I asked. "I don't have any clothes."  
  
"Into this," he said, and he held out a torn red dress. It was missing a sleeve and there were stains all over it. I wrinkled my nose in disgust.  
  
"That's okay. I-I really don't look good in dresses," I stated.  
  
"You'll wear it if you know what's good for you," growled the figure, pulling out a wand. I gulped.  
  
"Okay, okay, keep your hood on," I said nervously. "But, could you unchain me, first?"  
  
The figure waved his wand at the chains on my wrists, and they fell off, rattling back into the headboard so that only the cuffs were visible. The figure handed me the dress. "You wouldn't mind giving me a bit of privacy, would you?" I asked tentatively. The figure turned around, walked out the door, and shut it behind him. Sighing deeply, I inspected the dress more carefully. It was made of a light silk, and it must've been a very bright red before, but now it was a faded pink. There were also burn holes in a couple of places.  
  
"I have to wear this?" I asked myself. I took off my p.j.'s and pulled on the rag, anyway. When I had tied the ribbon going around the waist, I looked myself over in the cracked, dirty mirror. The dress, though ripped and ragged, wasn't too revealing. You could see my scar, but I wasn't too worried about that.  
  
Suddenly, the door burst open and the hooded figure came in. He grabbed my arm and marched me out of the room. He led me past stone gargoyles and snakes and into a room lit with maybe 100 torches. They cast flickering shadows onto the walls and made the place seem even creepier. As soon as we walked in, the temperature dropped. Not by much, but I could tell it was colder in here than in the rest of the building.  
  
A strip of black carpet led up to a tall golden throne. A man was sitting in the throne, his pale face resting on a pale, unnaturally long- fingered hand. He would've looked bored if it weren't for his eyes. They were a vivid red, opened wide and alert. They were cold eyes, despite their color. As soon as I looked into those eyes, my scar burned. I tried my best to avoid them.  
  
The hooded figure threw me down onto the floor when we reached the throne. I kept my head down and didn't move. My scar was starting to burn dully because of being so close to the man in the throne.  
  
"Thank you, Goyle," I heard the man say above my head. Just by hearing that voice, I knew who was sitting in that throne. It was Voldemort. "Now, I would like a private word with Miss Emerald."  
  
I heard the sound of footsteps become softer and softer, and then the opening and closing of a door. A moment of silence, and then,  
  
"Emerald, stand up," Voldemort commanded. I stood, but I wouldn't look Voldemort in the eye. Instead, I looked at the wall behind the throne.  
  
Voldemort got up and stepped closer to me. I took a few steps back, still avoiding Voldemort's horrible red eyes. "What's wrong?" he hissed softly, coming closer. "Are you afraid?"  
  
I kept backing up until I felt my back hit one of the columns in the room. Voldemort kept coming nearer and nearer until we were only a foot apart. I couldn't move; I was frozen in fear.  
  
"I remember you so well, Emerald," Voldemort whispered, tracing my scar softly with one of his fingers. I winced; the pain made me want to scream, but I wouldn't let Voldemort know my weakness.  
  
"Get away from me, you monster!" I snapped, slapping his hand away. "Leave me alone!"  
  
"I will," said Voldemort, "if you give me your necklace."  
  
"No," I said flatly. "I won't give it to you. You can't make me."  
  
"I can't?" asked Voldemort in a soft, menacing voice.  
  
"No. I won't give it to you no matter what you do," I hissed.  
  
"Oh, really?" said Voldemort, snapping his fingers. Ropes flew out of no where, twisting themselves around my wrists and waist, binding me tightly to the column. Voldemort drew out his wand.  
  
"Torture me all you want," I said, "I'm not giving you my necklace."  
  
"It's a shame," said Voldemort, fingering his wand, "to go through so much for a necklace."  
  
"True," I said, nodding, "but I like it. You know how girls get when it comes to jewelry." "Have it you way, then," sneered Voldemort, raising his wand. "Crucio!" I tried my hardest not to scream, but the pain in my scar doubled, my bones started buring, and red hot knives started to pierce every inch of my skin; I couldn't help it. I was screaming my lungs out... And then Voldemort stopped it. I found myself starring into his horrible red eyes; my scar burned, and I quickly looked away.  
  
"Did you change your mind, Emerald?" Voldemort asked softly.  
  
"No," I replied, tears stinging my eyes. Voldemort looked about ready to strangle me, but he luckily kept his cool.  
  
"Goyle!" he shouted, and the hooded figure walked in.  
  
"Yes, Master?" he asked.  
  
"Take Miss Emerald back to her room," said Voldemort. Goyle untied me and led me out of the room. I could barely walk, but somehow, I made it back to my "room." Goyle chained my wrists to the headboard again and left. As soon as the door closed behind him, I collapsed, sobbing, into my pillow. How was I ever going to get out of this awful place? I must've fallen asleep without noticing, because before long, I was surrounded by a golden haze again.  
  
"Hello, Emerald," came D.C.'s warm voice. A wave of relief washed over me.  
  
"Oh, D.C.," I sobbed, "how am I ever going to escape from this place?"  
  
"With the help of the Powers, of course," replied D.C.  
  
"The Powers?" I asked, sniffing. "Are you planning to tell me what they are anytime soon now?"  
  
"Be patient, Emerald," chuckled D.C. "Anyway, there are 10 different Powers. I'll teach you how to summon the basics tonight, and we'll move on to the more complicated Powers tomorrow night."  
  
"Ok," I said. I was quiet for a moment, and then I realized something I hadn't before. "D.C., it's only February, so how can Voldemort be back? Unless, Harry's in his fifth year already."  
  
"Actually Emerald, it's the beginning of July right now," said D.C. "The july after Voldemort was reincarnated."  
  
"Oh. I guess it would make sense, seeing as this is a different dimension," I said, shrugging. "So, can we start now?"  
  
"Sure," said D.C.  
  
That night I learned about the five basic Powers, which were based on the elements of Fire, Water, Ice, Earth, and Sky. I learned how to summon them and where and when they should be used. I was exhausted afterwards (to summon a Power takes an immense amount of energy), but D.C. reassured me it would be worth it.  
  
"Ok, Emerald," said D.C., "tomorrow night, I'll teach you how to summon the more complicated of the Powers, and then we'll come up with a plan to help you escape from here."  
  
"You mean, I have to go through another day living here?" I gasped, horrified.  
  
"I'm afraid so, Emerald. It may be longer, depending on how long it takes for you to learn the other Powers and for us to come up with a plan," sighed D.C. I was about to answer when I felt myself being shaken awake. The same Death Eater was crouching over me. As soon as I opened my eyes, he unchained me and led me out of the room, towards Voldemort.  
  
We entered the same room, but this time, the Death Eater left as soon as we enetered, shutting the door tightly behind him.  
  
"So, Emerald," came a cold voice from behind me, making me jump, "have you changed your mind?"  
  
"Nope, sorry, Voldemort," I sneered, turning to face him. My scar didn't hurt as badly when I looked Voldemort in the eye now. D.C. had put some sort of temporary charm on it. I was extremely grateful for that.  
  
"You're positive, Emerald?" asked Voldemort softly, drawing out his wand.  
  
"100% positive," I said.  
  
"And, I can't change your mind?" Voldemort said,  
  
"Oh, get on with it," I said, rolling my eyes. "Go ahead and torture me so we can get on with our lives, however pathetic they may be."  
  
"Very well, then," Voldemort said, smiling evilly. He raised his wand.  
  
The pain wasn't as bad as it could've been, but all the same, I was still twitching slightly when the Death Eater led me back out of the room. Instead of heading back to my, er, room, however, he steered me to a room that looked like a kitchen.  
  
"Here's the new waitress," he laughed to the Death Eater standing by the door, and he handed me over to him.  
  
To make a long story short, I was to serve Voldemort and his disgusting followers every night at dinner. The mere thought of them at dinner horrified, terrified, and appalled me. I thought I would faint. That night, at around 6:30, the Death Eater in the kitchens shoved me through a door with a plateful of food. Following me were several house- elves. You'll be leaving soon, Emerald, I thought to myself as I served the rude Death Eaters around the table. You'll be leaving soon.  
  
The Death Eaters were so disgusting that I won't even try to put it in words. It was that bad, really!  
  
Thankfully, I didn't have to serve for more than an hour. I was so exhausted and grossed out that I was nearly jumping with joy when a Death Eater chained me to my bed. Soon, I was asleep, intent on learning the rest of the Powers and escaping ASAP.  
  
The by now familiar and comforting golden mist surrounded me,  
  
"D.C.?" I called.  
  
"No need to yell, Emerald, I'm always here," chortled D.C.  
  
"Oh, sorry, I forgot," I said, smiling sheepishly. "Can we start now? I don't want to be in that building for longer than I have to."  
  
"Ok," sighed D.C., and her started to teach me how to summon the other five powers; the Dream, Wish, Heal, Revive, and, the most complicated on of all, the Dream Crystal itself. This Power would drain a person of all their energy, and most of the time, the summoner would die. D.C. told me never to use this unless it was extremely necessary. All I learned for the Dream Crystal Power was the incantation (which means D.C. didn't make me summon it like the rest of the Powers).  
  
By the end of the lesson I had learned bow to summon the four less complex Powers and the Dream Crystal Power's incantation. D.C. was ecstatic about my progress.  
  
"I'll work on a plan while you're awake," he told me right before I was shaken awake to repeat yesterday all over again, "and tell it to you tonight. That way, you'll be able to escape tomorrow night."  
  
"Sounds great," I sighed. Then, I was roughly shaken awake to be tortured by Voldemort and grossed out by his Death Eaters. I am so glad I only have to go through one more day of this, I thought to myself as I tried not to watch the Death Eaters stuff their faces.  
  
"So, D.C.," I said when I had fallen asleep that night, "what's the plan?"  
  
"Emerald, make sure you'll save some of your energy tomorrow," said D.C. "You're going to escape with the help of the Powers." 


	3. Third Chapter

The next day flew by, and before I knew it, Goyle, (my personal Death Eater) was chaining me to my bed. I laid down, pretending to be exhausted, and heard him leave. I sat up and held the Dream Crystal tightly in both my hands. Then I whispered the incantation for the Wish Power:  
  
"Yeei allci pnoui heti Orwepi, Ihswi  
  
Iyghtmi Orwepi foi heti ltanepi, Esnuvi  
  
Oemci ohrtfi, Yeei unmmosi hetei!"  
  
I focused all my energy, like D.C. had told me to, on the Wish Power coming to me. For a tense moment, nothing happened. Then, I heard a whisper in my ear; the voice of the Wish.  
  
"How many Wishes can I grant you, child?"  
  
"Three, please," I whispered. I felt something blow gently on my face three times, and then a tingling sensation spread through my whole body; from the roots of my hair down to my toes. "Thank you, Power."  
  
"Call on me if you ever need me again," it said, it's voice fading away. I felt a little dizzy, but D.C. had said I would. After all, summoning Powers isn't an easy task.  
  
After the dizziness had passed, I made my first Wish; "I wish that I was no longer chained to my bed." The chains fell of noiselessly and recoiled into the headboard. I stood up and stretched for a bit, then made my second Wish; "I wish I was wearing a pair of blue caprice, white tennis- shoes, and my favorite spaghetti strap." Instantly, the ugly red dress vanished and was replaced with blue caprice, whit tennies, and my favorite spaghetti strap shirt- purple with a cat on it saying, "I'm purr-fect." I walked over to the locked window and made my final Wish; "I wish this window was open." The window slowly opened, and I crawled out onto the ledge. Luckily, there was a huge oak tree right outside it. I grabbed the nearest branch and started to climb down it.  
  
When I had reached the bottom, I dusted myself off and looked up at my window. A wide grin spread over my face, and I whispered, "See ya later, Voldemort!" Then, I started to sprint away from the house, towards Surrey.  
  
20 minutes later, I was gasping for breath. The house was long gone, but I still had a long way to go.  
  
I walked over to a bench, sat down, and closed my eyes, waiting for my breath to return to normal. That took about 5 minutes, and then I started to gather my energy for what I had to do next.  
  
Taking a deep breath and grasping the Dream Crystal in my hands, I recited the incantation to summon the Dream.  
  
"Yeei allci pnoui heti Orwepi, Rmeadi  
  
Iyghtmi Orwepi foi heti ltanepi, Antursi  
  
Oemci ohrtfi, Yeei unmmosi hetei!"  
  
I waited, focusing my energy. Then a soft breeze tossed my hair over my face, and I heard a beautiful voice.  
  
"Whose Dream would you like to enter?"  
  
I took a deep breath, and then said, "I would like to enter the Dream of Harry Potter."  
  
The Power blew on me and I felt myself falling through blackness. I thought the blackness would never end when I suddenly fell onto a hard surface. I got up and looked around. All I could see was a soft white mist. He's not dreaming, I thought, smiling to myself. I knew that Harry must rarely have dreamless nights since what had happened to him. "Harry! Harry!" I called. To my right, a 15-year-old boy materialized out of nowhere. I stood staring at him for a moment. His bright, emerald green eyes were curious under messy, jet-black hair.  
  
"Um, hi, Harry," I said shyly.  
  
"Er, hi," he replied. A moment of uneasy silence, and then he asked, "Um, not to sound rude or anything, but-"  
  
"Why am I here?" I finished for him, smiling a little.  
  
"Yeah," said Harry, smiling too.  
  
"Well, it's kind of a long story, so I'll do my best to summarize it for you," I said, sitting down. Harry sat down next to me.  
  
"Um, let's see, I guess I should start with, er, a necklace I found a few weeks ago," I said, showing Harry the Dream Crystal. Harry's jaw dropped.  
  
"I've seen that necklace before!" he exclaimed, his eyes showing a look between amazement and curiosity.  
  
"Really? Where?" I asked.  
  
"My mum was wearing it in one of the pictures I had of her," Harry answered, moving his gaze from the Dream Crystal to my face. I felt myself go red.  
  
"Weird," I said. I stared off into space for a moment, and then snapped myself out of it. "Anyway, two weeks after I found this necklace, I was kidnapped by Voldemort."  
  
"Voldemort?" said Harry, looking terrified.  
  
"I know. He scares me too," I shivered, and then continued. "The night he kidnapped me, I met his two daughters, Victoria and Pristina. They had been posing as my best friends for a year-and-a-half. You can imagine how that went over with me."  
  
Harry nodded, too white to speak. "Harry, are you ok?" I asked sympathetically.  
  
"Yeah," said Harry in a hoarse whisper, "yeah, I'm fine."  
  
"Ok, if you're sure," I said. Narrowing my eyes in anger of the next part of my story, I continued. "Life at Voldemort's was horrible. My daily routine was the same; wake up, get tortured by Voldemort, and then serve him and his Death Eaters at dinner."  
  
"Why'd Voldemort torture you?" asked Harry dryly.  
  
"He wanted my necklace," I said simply. "Well, it really isn't just a necklace. It's called the Dream Crystal. I met the spirit of the Dream Crystal, D.C., on my first night at Voldemort's. D.C. taught me how to use the Powers and came up with a plan to help me escape, which is why I'm here."  
  
"Powers?" Harry said blankly.  
  
"I'll explain later," I said, smiling. "Right now, I have to ask you a favor."  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"Harry, as soon as Voldemort discovers I'm missing, I won't be safe anywhere but at Hogwarts and..."  
  
"And?"  
  
"And your house. D.C. thinks it's best if I stay with you until term at Hogwarts starts," I finished quickly.  
  
"So, you're saying that you have to come live at Privet Drive?" asked Harry, jumping to his feet.  
  
"Harry," I said, standing up too, "I have nowhere else to go. Just send Hedwig to me, or something, and I'll tell you where to meet me."  
  
"Ok, but," Harry began.  
  
"Harry, just send her to me. It has to work," I said, fixing my eyes on his. Slowly, Harry nodded.  
  
"'Til then."  
  
"'Til then," I said. Harry turned around, about to leave, when he called over his shoulder, "Wait! What's your name?"  
  
"Emerald," I said. Then, I turned my back and shouted, "Dream, take me back to reality!" I felt something tug me forward, into blackness. My fit hit the cement a moment later, and I wobbled a little, about to fall over. Steadying myself, I smiled a little, looked up at the starry night sky, and fainted. Summoning 2 powers in one night had sucked away all my energy.  
  
I woke up to a soft hooting. A snowy owl with beautiful amber eyes was near my right arm, looking at me patiently. It took me a moment to recognize her. When I did, I grinned. "Hello, Hedwig."  
  
Tied to Hedwig's leg was a letter. I took it off of her leg and read it:  
  
Emerald~ I don't know whether or not to believe my dream, but I'm writing this anyway. Where should we meet?  
  
Harry  
  
My grin widened and then diminished. I didn't have a pen to reply with. I scanned the ground, and luckily, there was a pen lying in the street. I ran out and got it.  
  
Sitting down on the bench, I scribbled my reply:  
  
Harry~  
  
I have no clue. I grew up in a different country (not to mention a different dimension!) so I don't know my way around England yet. Right now I'm sitting on the bus stop bench on Veranda. Do you know where that is?  
  
Emerald  
  
I rolled up the piece of parchment and held it out to Hedwig. She clamped it firmly in her beak and took off. I watched her fly out of site.  
  
I spent most of the day walking around the area, trying not to stray too far from the bus stop. Around noon, Hedwig returned with Harry's answer.  
  
Emerald~  
  
Yes, I know where Veranda is! It's only a few blocks away from Privet Drive, so I'll walk over there after lunch. (my stomach rumbled) See you then!  
  
Harry  
  
I wrote a hurried "ok" on the not and sent Hedwig off again.  
  
For half-an-hour, I paced in front of the bench, explaining to curious passer-by that I was "meeting a friend here."  
  
Finally, at around 1:00, someone tapped me of my shoulder. I whipped around and found myself face to face with bright green eyes looking at me through black, round glasses.  
  
"Don't do that, Harry!" I exclaimed, backing away a little. "You could give a gal a heart attack!"  
  
Harry shrugged, flashing me a mischievous grin. I couldn't help but smile back. "Fred and George rubbed off on ya, Harry," I laughed.  
  
"Yeah, I guess- hey, wait a minute! How'd you know-?" Harry asked puzzled.  
  
"I'm an avid reader," I said.  
  
"What does reading have anything to do with it?" Harry was obviously baffled. I slapped myself on my forehead.  
  
"Jeez, I keep forgettin'! You know how I said I was from another dimension?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Over there, well, there are books about you," I said, trying to put it simply. Dare I mention the movies, clubs, websites, merchandise, and fanfics? Nah, he might go berserk.  
  
Actually, Harry had already gone berserk. He started to stutter, bug- eyed. "B-b-books? A-about m-me?"  
  
"Oh, Harry, honestly," I said, rolling my eyes, "you're sounding more and more like Professor Quirrell every second."  
  
"What? Oh, you're right," said Harry, pulling himself together. "So, about these books..."  
  
For the next half-an-hour, during the walk to Privet Drive, Harry made me explain about "these books," which, one way or another, led to me explaining the longer version of why I was here. I was thoroughly out of breath when we turned the corner onto Privet Drive. What I saw when we turned the corner made me gasp. Trees were swaying gently in the cool summer breeze. Everywhere, flowers were in full blossom; from chrysanthemums to posies, from daffodils to roses. The aroma of all these flowers filled the air with a pleasant perfume I knew I would never grow tired of. The soft hum of bees from nearby flowers mixed with the chirping of birds in the trees to create a sort of natural symphony.  
  
"Wow," was all I could manage to get out. "It's hard to believe the Dursley's live here."  
  
"I know," said Harry, almost lazily, walking towards number four. I stood for a moment, enjoying the beautiful scenery, and then I followed him.  
  
"Harry, I don't know how I'm ever going to thank you," I said, more than a little bit embarrassed.  
  
"No problem," replied Harry, opening the door of number four. It opened to reveal five boys of around Harry's age crowded around the television, stuffing their faces with popcorn. Four of them were huge, but the other boy was scrawny and had a face that made him look like a rat (from what I could see). I wouldn't be surprised if he was related in any way at all to Wormtail.  
  
The largest of the five boys looked up when the door slammed shut behind us. He had blonde hair that was plastered to his thick head and piggy little eyes. This had to be Dudley.  
  
"Oy, 'Arry," he said, through a mouthful of popcorn, "'oo's tha'?"  
  
"Emerald," said Harry irritably, trying to pull me upstairs to his room. Dudley, however, pulled himself to his feet (it looked very hard) and wobbled over to the bottom of the staircase, blockading our "escape" route. Dudley swallowed his mouthful of popcorn and grinned at me. I stepped behind Harry, peeking out around his shoulder at Dudley. It wasn't like I was afraid of him, it's just that, well, next to the Death Eaters, Dudley was the most disgusting thing I had ever seen.  
  
"Dudley, move," said Harry.  
  
"Why should I?" Dudley replied nastily. Behind us, his, er, friends formed a half circle, cutting off any means of getting away from Dudley. I could tell he wanted to impress me by beating up Harry. Why, I had no idea. I was exactly considered pretty by my former classmates.  
  
"I'll tell you why," Harry hissed. He started to mumble nonsense words under his breath, but I cut him off. I winked at him and turned to Dudley, putting on a puppy-face.  
  
"Dudley," I said, curling a strand of hair around my fingers and fluttering my eyes, "could you please move? Please?"  
  
"Er-uh," Dudley stuttered, turning a violent shade of purple. I tried to force down a laugh, and, luckily, succeeded.  
  
"Well?" I asked, making my eyes look round and innocent.  
  
"Er, s-s-sure," he stuttered, stumbling over to his friends, who, I could tell, were trying not to snigger heartily.  
  
"Thanks, Dudley," I said sweetly before Harry pulled me upstairs to his bedroom.  
  
As soon as he closed the door, he collapsed laughing onto his bed. I joined in, doubled over on the floor, shaking with silent laughter until tears started to low down my checks.  
  
"Jeez, how thick can you get?" I giggled, sitting up and wiping the tears away.  
  
"I dunno," Harry said, sitting up too, "but Dudley is pretty thick."  
  
I pulled myself onto his bed next to him and looked around. Now that I was done laughing, I could focus more on his room. The walls, which were a bland white, had dozens of wooden shelves nailed onto them. On one side of the room, opposite Harry's bed, was a large cherry-tree desk that took up most of the wall space. One half of it was littered with pieces of parchment, ink bottles, and quills. The other half was occupied by a large metal cage in which a sleeping snowy owl was perched, her head resting under her wing. I smiled softly at her.  
  
I was pulled out of my thoughts by a loud, false cough. Startled, I looked around at Harry.  
  
"Oh, sorry," I said, grinning widely, "it's just, sometimes I go off into la-la-land when I'm thinking."  
  
"No kidding?" said Harry, raising his eyebrows. A bit of color rose in my cheeks, but Harry didn't notice.  
  
"So," he said, his eyes wandering around his room, "are you hungry?"  
  
"What gave me away?" I said as my stomach growled.  
  
"Well, for one thing, that," Harry laugher, "and for another, I highly doubt that Voldemort fed you."  
  
"You guessed right, Harry," I replied. "He didn't, even though I managed to sneak some food when I was in the kitchens."  
  
"Let's go downstairs, then," said Harry, getting up off the bed. "There has to be some food left in the pantry."  
  
"Even after Dudley and his gang cleaned it out?" I said in mock- amazement. Harry chortled.  
  
"It can't hurt to have a look," he shrugged,  
  
"Ok, then," I said, following him downstairs, "just as long as I don't have to do that puppy-face thing again. Eurgh!"  
  
Dudley and his gang were crowed around the television again, and they didn't even bother to look up as Harry and I ambled down the stairs. Dudley was still a faint lilac color, which nearly made me burst out laughing. I kept my composure, however, and followed Harry into the kitchen. 


	4. Fourth Chapter

Harry was already digging through the pantry when I walked in.  
  
"Can you settle for P.B. and J? he asked.  
  
"Sure," I said. "That's the usual for me, anyway." So, five minutes later, Harry and I were walking around outside, enjoying the summer air. We talked about miscellaneous things and chomped on our sandwiches. It was surprisingly cool for mid-July, but if in the distance I could see large, gray clouds looming closer.  
  
"It looks like it's gonna rain," I told Harry, squinting at the giant clouds.  
  
"Yeah," he replied, finishing he sandwich. "Wanna go back inside?"  
  
"Sure." We started to walk back to Privet Drive, which took a couple of minutes because we were on Magnolia Crescent. As soon as I stepped inside number four, a brilliant flash of lighting flashed through the ever- darkening sky, followed by a loud clap of thunder. Soon afterwards, rain began to fall. The pitter-pat of the rain on the roof and windows was almost unnoticeable.  
  
Harry and I spent most of that afternoon in his room, avoiding Dudley and his gang.  
  
"I still feel so terrible for you," I said to Harry, propping my head up on my fists. "Having to put up with Dudley and you aunt and uncle... Where are they anyway?"  
  
"Shopping," Harry replied. "Mrs. Figg was sick, so they let Dudley invite his gang over to 'keep an eye on me.'"  
  
"Jeez," I said, shaking my head. "I can't believe they treat you like a five-year-old."  
  
"I know," said Harry. We watched the rain hit Harry's window for a moment more, and then I thought of something very important.  
  
"Harry, don't you think Dumbledore would want to know about this?" I asked, sitting up.  
  
"You're right," said Harry. "I'll send Hedwig to him after the rain stops."  
  
"Aren't you forgetting something?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"Don't you have to write a letter or something?"  
  
"Oh, yeah," said Harry, grinning. Harry sat down at his desk, pulled out a piece of parchment, a quill, and an ink bottle, dipped the quill in ink, and began to write his letter to Dumbledore. I looked over his shoulder as he wrote it.  
  
Professor Dumbledore~  
  
Something weird happened a few days ago. I don't know how to explain it all in words, except that it has to do with Voldemort kidnapping a girl around my age named Emerald. Please come down here as quick as possible.  
  
Harry  
  
"Ah," I said as I watched him fold the letter and place it next to Hedwig's cage, "I see you're going with the classic 'brief-yet-urgent' letter form. Very wise choice."  
  
I grinned and nimbly dodged a pillow lobbed at me by Harry. "Oh, is it a pillow fight you want?" I asked in mock-rage. "Then, it is a pillow fight you shall get."  
  
Picking up one of the two pillows on Harry's bed, I made as if to lunge at him. He jumped up out of the chair, oh so oblivious to my bluff. The consequence? A face full of fluff.  
  
"Is that all?" Harry laughed, picking up the other pillow on his bed. I jumped up onto his bed as he swung his pillow at the place I had been a nano-second before. Not wasting a second of time, Harry jumped on, too.  
  
We circled each other for a minute, then, at the exact same time, flung our pillows at each others face, causing several feathers to flutter up into the air. We kept swinging our pillows at each other, managing to hit the other several times.  
  
At one point, I lost my balance and fell onto the bed. Taking advantage of my disadvantage, Harry started to bombard me with his pillow.  
  
"Hey, no fair!" I giggled, pulling my pillow up over my face.  
  
"You know what they say, Emerald," said Harry, continuing his attack, "all's fair in love and war!"  
  
"And since when is hitting a girl with a pillow a form of love?" I asked, rolling off the bed while Harry raised his pillow. "It's not," he said, jumping down after me. "This is just war!"  
  
Our pillow fight went on for another ten minutes. By the time Harry called a truce (I had disarmed him of his pillow and was walloping him with mine), the rain had stopped and the sun was peeking out through the clouds.  
  
"I haven't had this much fun since who knows when," I sighed, looking out Harry's window.  
  
"I know," Harry replied. Just then, a car pulled into the driveway. Two people got out of it.  
  
"Your aunt and uncle are home, Harry," I said.  
  
"Oh, joy," he replied sarcastically. "I wonder what I should tell them."  
  
"I dunno," I said, "but maybe you should send Hedwig right now."  
  
"Oh, yeah," he said. He walked over to Hedwig's cage and unlocked the door. "Hedwig, wake up, Hedwig. I need you to take this to Dumbledore for me."  
  
Hedwig hooted lazily and held out her leg. Harry tied the letter to it and carried her over to the window. She took off, and we watched her fly out of site.  
  
Suddenly, the slamming of a door jerked me back to reality. From down below there came a harsh yell.  
  
"Get down here, boy!" a man barked. "Help Petunia with the bags!"  
  
"Do you wanna stay here or come downstairs?" Harry sighed.  
  
"I'll come with you," I replied. "You know, for moral support."  
  
"Ok."  
  
Harry and I made our way downstairs, where there were several bags and packages.  
  
"Where've you been, boy?" snapped a man who looked remarkably like Dudley, except with a large mustache. "And who's that?" he asked, catching sight of me.  
  
"Emerald," said Harry, picking up some bags. "She, uh-" "I'm here because the orphanage where I live is under construction," I said quickly, "and, since I'm a friend of Harry's, he said that I could stay here until term starts. That is, if it's alright with you."  
  
"You're a friend from his, er, school, are you?" asked the man nervously.  
  
"Yeah. An American exchange student," I said, picking up some bags, too. "Where do you want these, Mr. Dursley?"  
  
"In the-the kitchen," he said shakily. "They- they're mostly groceries."  
  
I followed Harry into the kitchen, dropped the bags on the table and began to put the groceries away, chatting with Harry.  
  
When all the groceries had been put away and Dudley's gang had returned to their homes, Harry, the Dursleys, and I sat down for dinner, which was celery and cottage cheese.  
  
"Is Dudley still on that ridiculous diet?" I asked to Harry.  
  
"Yeah," he replied in a disgusted tone. I rolled my eyes.  
  
"Listen," I said to the Dursleys, "just because Dudley's on a diet doesn't mean that he has to eat this little. There're plenty of low-fat recipes I can show you. Like a salad."  
  
I jumped up and began rummaging through their refrigerator, pulling out a head of lettuce, a tomato, and a bottle of ranch dressing. Then, I went over to the pantry and pulled out a can of olives, a can of garbanzo beans, and crotons.  
  
"Harry, come here and help me, will you?" I asked, ignoring the stares from the Dursleys. Harry got up and walked over to me.  
  
"What do you need help with?" he asked, watching me dump the lettuce and tomato onto the cutting board.  
  
"Can you wash the tomato and lettuce for me, Harry?" I asked, pulling out five bowls, forks, and a cutting knife. "Sure."  
  
While the Dursleys stared on in amazement, Harry and I diced the tomato, pulled the lettuce apart, and opened the cans of olives and garbanzo beans. I tossed some lettuce, tomatoes, olives, and garbanzo beans into each bowl, poured on a little ranch dressing, and topped them with some crutons.  
  
"Here," I said, placing a bowl in front of everyone, "this is both low- fat and filling."  
  
The Dursley's looked a bit skeptical at first, but, after Harry and I had taken bites of our salad, they tried theirs. To their amazement (it totally showed on their faces) it was delicious. I couldn't help but grin in self-satisfaction.  
  
At the end of dinner, the bowls were empty. I started to clean up the table, but Mrs. Dursley stopped me.  
  
"I'll clean it up," she said, forcing a smile. "Thank you for such a nice dinner."  
  
"No problem," I said, smiling back.  
  
When Harry and I had walked up to his bedroom, I fell back onto his bed.  
  
"They were actually nice to me," I said in amazement.  
  
"I know," Harry sighed. Then he flashed an evil grin at me and picked up a pillow.  
  
"Harry, no," I said, sitting up, "we just ate-"  
  
"So?" he asked, raising his pillow.  
  
"Do you really want me to beat you again?" I asked, picking up the other pillow.  
  
"You won't beat me this time, Emerald," he laughed, his eyes sparkling.  
  
"Why not?" I asked, standing up.  
  
"Because I'm not ticklish," Harry replied.  
  
"What does being-" I began, but Harry threw his pillow into my stomach, knocking me back onto the bed.  
  
"You'll pay for that one, Potter!" I giggled, raising my pillow. I threw it full force into his face, making him stumble back into the wall.  
  
"Why, I oughta-" he began, jumping onto his bed. I stood up to face him, and immediately wished I hadn't. Quick as lightning, Harry pinned my wrists to the wall with one hand and started to tickle me in the stomach with the other. That was where I was most ticklish, and I started to laugh like a maniac.  
  
"Harry," I gasped between laughs, "stop it... that tickles..."  
  
"That's the point!" he laughed jubilantly, continuing his tickle assault.  
  
"I thought this was a pillow fight!" I giggled, struggling to get away.  
  
"Now it's a tickle fight," he shrugged. "Wanna call a truce?"  
  
"F-fine!" I gasped. "Truce, truce!"  
  
Harry instantly stopped tickling me and released my wrists.  
  
"Told ya I'd win that round!" he laughed, sitting back down on the bed/  
  
"Yeah, but you cheated," I giggled, sitting down next to him.  
  
"I call it changing tactics," he said simply, grinning at me.  
  
"Same difference," I replied, still hiccoughing every now and then. The sun was beginning to set in the horizon, splashing the sky with brilliant shades of purple, pink, and orange. I watched in awe. California had had some beautiful sunsets, but not one of them could compare to this one. Maybe it was because of Harry that felt adrenaline rush through my body, and maybe it was because of Harry that made watching this sunset magical. All I know is that I felt very privileged to be sitting next to him.  
  
I stole a sideways glance at Harry, who was also watching the sunset. The pale light from the sun cast across Harry's face gave it a glowing look. For some reason, my attention was drawn to his eyes. They sparkled as brightly as they had when I first met Harry, maybe even more.  
  
Harry saw me looking at him, and he smiled at me. My cheeks attained a pale, pink tinge, and I looked out to the sunset again.  
  
After the sun had set and the moon and stars had risen, I found myself yawning every ten minutes.  
  
"Man, I'm tired," I sighed, closing my eyes. "It's been one hectic day."  
  
"Yeah, it has," Harry agreed. "Do you want to go to bed, Emerald?"  
  
"Mmm-hmm," I replied sleepily.  
  
"There's a spare sleeping bag in the closet," he said softly, getting up and pulling it out. "Just grab a pillow."  
  
"'K," I said thickly, grabbing the nearest pillow and kicking off my tennies. Harry laid out the sleeping bag on the floor next to his bed, and I slipped in between to two layers of it. "Night, Harry."  
  
"Night, Emerald," he said gently. I lied my head down on the pillow and was asleep before I knew it, not feeling Harry's lips gently brush my cheek. To my surprise, I had a dreamless night. I was so used to seeing the golden mist when I fell asleep that it startled me when I woke up without seeing it.  
  
Harry and I went down for breakfast at around 7:00. The Dursleys weren't up yet, so we made ourselves bowls of cereal. When we had finished our silent meal (both of us were too tired to say anything) we trudged back upstairs and collapsed onto Harry's bed, yawning and fighting to keep our eyes open.  
  
Our eyes snapped open, however, when Hedwig flew in through Harry's open window and dropped a letter into Harry's lap. Harry tore it open and read it out loud:  
  
Harry~  
  
Yes, I already know about that. One of the spies for our side told me about it right before your letter arrived. All I have to say is this: Voldemort is getting stronger quickly, and you and Emerald are no longer safe at your current residence. Someone from the Ministry will pick you up on July 25 to bring you somewhere safer. Pack all your school things and enough clothes to last until term at Hogwarts starts.  
  
Professor Dumbledore  
  
Harry looked up at me as he finished the letter.  
  
"The 25," he said slowly. "That's tomorrow."  
  
"I know," I said. "So is this a good thing or a bad thing?"  
  
"Both," Harry replied. "Leaving the Dursleys a month earlier is a good thing. Voldemort getting stronger is a bad thing."  
  
"Yeah," I agreed. We were silent for a moment, and I started to pluck absentmindedly at my shirt. That was when I realized that all my clothes were in another dimension, not to mention my money. The only way to get them was to use the Wish Power. "Uhh, Harry?"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"Would you mind if I used the Wish Power to get my clothes and my money?" I asked tentatively.  
  
"What?"  
  
I sighed. Clasping the Dream Crystal in my hands, I focused my energy and summoned the Wish Power:  
  
"Yeei allci pnoui heti Orwepi, Ihswi  
  
Iyghtmi Orwepi foi heti ltanepi, Esnuvi  
  
Oemci ohrtfi, Yeei unmmosi hetei!"  
  
As Harry looked on in amazement, the Wish Power slowly formed in front of me. A voice spoke from within the shimmering, opal mist.  
  
"How many Wishes can I grant you?"  
  
"One," I said. The Power blew softly on my face, and I felt the tingling sensation spread through my body again. "Thank you, Power."  
  
The Wish Power faded from site, and I turned to Harry. His face was stunned. I giggled, and he snapped out of it.  
  
"What-how-?" he asked.  
  
"I told you, I'll explain later," I said lightly. "Now, I have to make my Wish. Let's see, how should I phrase this? Hmmm... ok. I wish that I had a trunk full of enough clothes to last me until September 2, my essentials, and my money."  
  
I waited. Suddenly, with a loud POP, my old leather trunk, which usually stood at the foot of my bed, toppled onto Harry's. I righted the trunk and unlatched the gold fastenings. About 30 shirts, shorts, and undergarments were folded neatly inside it. On top of these clothes was my purse. Rummaging inside it, I found my make-up, a razor, deodorant, a brush, and my life savings.  
  
I closed the trunk, grasped the handles, and heaved it off of Harry's bed, depositing it next to his nightstand.  
  
"Ow," I moaned, straightening up. "I really shouldn't have done that."  
  
Harry just stood there, gaping at me like a mindless idiot. I smiled, and snapped my fingers. Harry jerked back to his senses, and colored slightly, which made me laugh.  
  
"Oh, sorry," he said, a little embarrassed.  
  
"That's ok," I said, stretching. "Hey, where's you're bathroom? I am in total need of a shower."  
  
"Down the hall to your right," said Harry. "The towels are in a bin near the sink."  
  
"Thanks, Harry," I said, grabbing a t-shirt, fringed shorts, some *ahem* undergarments (which I kept hidden between the shirt and shorts), plus my deodorant and razor. I made my way to the bathroom and closed the door behind me. I deposited my clothes and deodorant on the counter, grabbed a towel and wash- cloth, and turned on the water. While I was waiting for the water to warm up, I hung the towel on the bar and slipped out of my clothes.  
  
The warm water woke me up more efficiently then the letter from Dumbledore. By the time I was finished with my shower, I was as hyper as I had been yesterday during the pillow fight.  
  
I dried myself off with the towel and got dressed. The t-shirt was a little long, so I knotted it on my left side. I towel-dried my hair as best I could, hung up my towel, and took my dirty clothes out of the bathroom, intending to put them in the false-top of my trunk.  
  
When I got into Harry's room, he wasn't in there. I shrugged, stashed away my laundry, and began to apply my make-up/ I didn't put on a lot, just a little bit of eye-liner, body glitter, and lip gloss. I used the brush to comb my hair and pull it into a ponytail, letting some hair hand down in front.  
  
I walked down the stairs, hoping to find Harry, and bumped into Dudley.  
  
"Hi, Dudley," I said. "Have you seen Harry?"  
  
"Nope," said Dudley, hurrying up the stairs.  
  
"Strange, strange child," I muttered to myself, shaking my head.  
  
When I reached the bottom of the stairs, I heard a muffled pounding sound from the tiny storage room under the stairs. I walked over to it, unlatched the door, and watched Harry tumble out.  
  
"Are you ok, Harry?" I asked, startled.  
  
"Yeah," he said, standing up. "A little cramped, but I'm fine."  
  
"And Dudley said he hadn't seen you," I sighed.  
  
The rest of the day passed pretty quickly. Harry and I spent most of it wandering around outside, talking about whatever topics came to mind. I received many stares from male passer-by, and I quickly persuaded Harry to let us walk back to Privet Drive. That night, I printed out several low-fat recipes from the health food website and gave them to Mr. and Mrs. Dursley so they wouldn't starve to death. As soon as my head hit my pillow that night, I fell asleep. Most of y energy had gone with summoning the Wish Power, and I luckily had another dreamless night. 


	5. Fifth Chapter

I awoke the next morning to the sound of Harry packing. Rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I sat up lazily.  
  
"Wha' time's it?" I asked groggily.  
  
"9:30," Harry replied, sweeping some spare quills into his trunk.  
  
"9-9:30?" I exclaimed, jumping up. "Why didn't you wake me up?"  
  
"You looked like such a little angel," Harry joked.  
  
"Shut it, Potter," I laughed, flinging my pillow at him.  
  
After shooing Harry out of the door, I got dressed in a pair of caprice and a tank-top. I didn't put on any make-up, though.  
  
"'K, Harry, I'm done!" I shouted, pulling my hair back with a handkerchief.  
  
Harry walked in and was about to say something when a car honked from down below. I looked out Harry's window and saw a black mustang with flags fluttering in the breeze parked in the driveway.  
  
"They're here already?" I asked in surprise.  
  
"It is 11:00, Emerald," Harry shrugged, starting to tug his trunk downstairs.  
  
"I'll get Hedwig for you, Harry," I said, scooping up her cage.  
  
"Thanks," said Harry, now easing his trunk down the stairs.  
  
I carried Hedwig downstairs after Harry , wondering which Ministry member would have time to pick up two 15-year-olds. My question was answered a few minutes later as a tall, balding, red-headed man stepped into number four.  
  
"Ready, Harry, Emerald?" he asked, smiling at us.  
  
"Yeah," Harry panted, setting his trunk down. I set Hedwig's cage silently on top of it, and dashed upstairs after Harry to get my trunk. "Is that who I think he is, Harry?" I asked, picking up one end of my trunk.  
  
"That depends. Who do you think it is, Emerald?" asked Harry, lifting the other end.  
  
"Mr. Weasley," I replied as we slowly walked down the staircase.  
  
"Yeah," said Harry as we reached the bottom. "He's who you think he is."  
  
Mr. Weasley was waiting by the door and smiled again when he saw us.  
  
"I put you're trunk in the car, Harry," he said. "Would you like me to help you with your trunk, Emerald?"  
  
"Yes, thank you," I said politely. Mr. Weasley pulled out his wand and magicked my trunk into the air. Then he motioned for us to follow him out the car. The Dursleys called a hurried good-bye from the kitchen as we closed the door.  
  
Harry and I got into the backseat while Mr. Weasley put my trunk in the back of the car. I noticed it was more spacious than it looked from the outside.  
  
Mr. Weasley got into the driver's seat and started the car with a tap of his wand. It purred to life, and Mr. Weasley backed it out of the driveway. To a Muggle, it would look like a regular car drive. And it was... until we reached the highway.  
  
There was construction ahead in the road and a traffic jam that reached from there to who knows where. I thought I would sit back and enjoy the scenery for a couple minutes... or an hour... or two, when the car made what felt like a tremendous jump, and we were past the construction site. I turned around in my seat to get a glimpse of it, but it was gone. We were now driving alongside a thick forest.  
  
The car gave another tremendous jolt, and we pulled into the gravel driveway of a huge cottage. I had the feeling that it was in the heart of the forest. Harry and I climbed out of the car, shielding our eyes from the bright sunlight pouring down on us. After our eyes adjusted to the brightness, Mr. Weasley led us (not to mention our trunks and Hedwig, which were floating behind him) into the cottage.  
  
When we entered through the wooden door, several people jumped up from the armchairs he or she had been sitting in and crowded around us.  
  
Most of them were red heads, but one girl had bushy brown hair. She had to be Hermione Granger. I looked around at all the other faces. Two red- heads were identical, right down to the very last freckle; Fred and George. Another red-head was chatting with Harry. He looked quite a bit taller than Harry. That's Ron, I thought. The only other girl, besides Hermione, was smiling brightly at me. She had shoulder-length red hair, a fair complexion, and as many freckles as Fred and George. I smiled back at her.  
  
"Hi," I said.  
  
"Hi, I'm Ginny," she said, holding out her hand.  
  
"Emerald," I said, shaking it. Ginny "introduced" me to Fred, George, Ron, and Hermione (I didn't tell them about the books). We talked as we made our way towards the couches and armchairs, which were place in a half- circle around a stone fire place. As I sat down on a couch with Harry, Ron, and Hermione, I caught sight of a large, shaggy-furred black dog sitting off in a corner, wagging his tail. When he saw me looking at him, he trotted over to the couch where we were sitting and layed his head on Harry's lap. Harry absentmindedly stroked him on the head, too caught up in talking about Quidditch with Ron to really notice him. The dog moved one to Hermione, who stroked his back, and then he moved on to me. I scratched him behind the ears, bent over to give him a hug, and whispered into his ear, "Hello, Sirius." The dog started. He looked at me with a cocked head and a quizzical expression. I winked at him, and his tail started to wag at, at least, 50 mph. Hermione looked at me, stunned.  
  
"What?" I asked innocently.  
  
"Nothing, it's," she began, "it's just I've never seen Snuffles take to a stranger so fast."  
  
"I guess I just have a way with dogs," I shrugged. "And Snuffles, is it? We'll have to come up with a better name." At this, the dog wagged his tail even harder. Everyone laughed.  
  
We spent a happy afternoon coming up with different names for Snuffles, snacking on Cauldron Cakes, Pumpkin Pasties, and all sorts of pastry treats. The most ludicrous name of all was "The Grim Reeker," a name Fred and George (who else?) came up with. When Snuffles heard this, he growled at them and gave them a look that planely said, "If you call me that even once..."  
  
When we had all recovered from our fits of laughter, Ginny suggested the best name of them all.  
  
"What about Midnight?" she asked.  
  
"That's a good name," said Hermione.  
  
"It's better than most of them," said Harry.  
  
"Well, unless anyone had a better name," I said, looking at Fred and George, "I vote to re-name Snuffles Midnight."  
  
"Me, too," said Ron.  
  
"I'm for it," said Harry.  
  
"So am I," said Hermione. We looked at Fred and George.  
  
"It is a good name," said Fred thoughtfully.  
  
"I still think that the Grim Reeker is better," said George. Snuffles growled deeply, and George immediately said, "All right, all right! I vote to re-name Snuffles Midnight, too." Snuffles- I mean, Midnight- started to bark loudly, running around and wagging his tail. We were all doubled up in laughter when a voice chuckled, "What is that dog so happy about?" It was Mr. Weasley.  
  
"We re-named him," I explained, forcing down giggles. "He's not Snuffles anymore. He's Midnight."  
  
"So that explains it," said Mr. Weasley. "Well, come on, now. Molly's got supper ready. Better hurry before the tables collapse."  
  
Everyone scrambled up (including Midnight) and stampeded towards Mr. Weasley, who hurried back into the dinning room. Snacking on pastries all afternoon hadn't really filled us up, and we were starving.  
  
When we entered the dinning room, a wonderful aroma met our noses. Two tables, layed end to end, were loaded with dozens of homemade foods and soups. Around the table were 9 chairs. I sat down in one of them, and Harry sat down next to me. Gradually, everyone filtered into their seats and started to fill their plates with food, chatting with their neighbor.  
  
Harry and Ron were once again chatting non-stop about Quidditch ("Figures," said Hermione, rolling her eyes.), about who was the most likely to make the World Cup, and about who the new Quidditch captain might be. I listened in for a while, but it got boring listening to them talk about the same things over and over again.  
  
All through dinner, I picked at my food. I didn't know why, but I felt out of place. No, I do know why, I thought, watching Ron's soup explod after Fred planted a Filibuster's Wet-start firecracker in it. I feel out of place because I don't belong here.  
  
"You're wrong, Emerald," said a voice in the back of my mind. "You do belong here. It's your destiny to be here. You were born here, Emerald. You do belong."  
  
I smiled inwardly. Thanks, D.C. I ended up sneaking scraps under the table to Midnight, who was stationed by my side all through dinner. However, I did manage to eat a couple spoonfuls of soup, a scoop of mashed potatoes, and a dinner roll, though the majority of food on my plate went to Midnight.  
  
By the time dinner had ended, everyone was tired. Mr. Weasley gave Harry and me directions to our rooms, but we could hardly understand him because he was yawning every ten seconds. We trudged up the stairs, turned left, and found our rooms at the end of the hallway. They were right across from one another.  
  
"Well, night, Harry," I said sleepily.  
  
"Night, Emerald," he replied, and before I could react, Harry leaned over and quickly kissed me on my cheek. I opened my mouth to say something, but Harry had already disappeared into his room. My cheeks started to colour, and I stood there for a while, touching my cheek in the place Harry had kissed me.  
  
"Wow," I whispered, staring at Harry's closed door. After a moment, I shook myself out of it and slipped inside of my own room. When I had closed the door and turned around, what I saw literally left me speechless.  
  
The room I was going to be sleeping in for the next month was at least twice the size of my old bedroom, which was pretty large to begin with. My trunk was at the foot of a queen-sized, four-poster bed with a white canopy and hangings. The sheet's were a pale sky-blue, made of a soft, light material. The room was mostly the colors of the bed; white furniture, white carpeting, white walls, and sky-blue drapes (which were closed at the moment) hanging at the window. They touched the carpet.  
  
I unlatched my trunk and pulled on my favorite nightgown. IT was a very pale lilac, made of silk, and it looked more like a dress than a nightgown. I took the handkerchief out and let my hair tumble over my shoulders. My mother had always said I looked like a dignified queen whenever I did this. A wave of homesickness washed over me, and I felt tears well up in my eyes.  
  
"All I need is some fresh air," I told myself, wiping the tears away. "It's all the dust in here, that's all."  
  
I walked over to the curtain and yanked them open. What I saw made me temporarily forget my homesickness.  
  
It wasn't a window that the curtains were hiding; it was a balcony. Not those itsy-bitsy balconies that come with apartments. This one was as big as Jasmine's on the Disney movie, Aladdin.  
  
The railing was made of polished white marble that shone slightly, even though it was dark out. There were stone dragons on the railing four feet away from the next one.  
  
I peered over the railing and saw an absolutely magnificent backyard. There was a swimming pool off to my right. Its waters were calm, shimmering in the moonlight. Even from my balcony on the 3rd floor, it looked huge. Lawn chairs, tables, and closed umbrellas were scattered all around it.  
  
To my left was a field with three poles with hoops on the top at each end. They looked about fifty feet high each. I smiled. Harry and Ron were going to go psycho on us when the found out that this cottage had its own personal Quidditch field.  
  
Suddenly, I heard a noise behind me. I whipped around, causing my nightgown and hair to twirl around me. All I saw was a black dog sitting patiently on its haunches. My grip on the railing relaxed and I breathed a sigh of relief.  
  
"You startled me, Sirius," I said, grinning. I turned back around and gazed into space. "Harry did the same thing. I can see where he gets it from." I heard a faint sort of pop, and then a man walked over to me and leaned agains the railing beside me, studying my face. He had dark, deep eyes, warm, and, at the moment, searching. His hair was the same colour. Of course, it wasn't as messy as it must've been before. In fact, it was neatly parted in the middle, and it had been combed.  
  
Sirius searched my face for a moment more, and then spoke.  
  
"I want to know," he said slowly, " who you are, why you're here, and how you know who I am."  
  
"My name is Emerald Chalcedona Darling," I said calmly, still staring into space. "I am here because Lord Voldemort abducted me, with the help of his two daughters, Victoria and Pristina. Those are short stories. How I know who you are, on the other hand, is a longer one. Whether or not I explain it in detail doesn't matter. It's still a long story."  
  
"Go right ahead, Emerald," Sirius said placidly. "We have all night."  
  
"Well, if you insist," I sighed. Then, I explained about the Harry Potter books and how everyone who's read them in my dimension knew Sirius was, as he said, innocent. His reaction was quite the opposite of Harry's.  
  
"That explains why Voldemort kidnapped you," said Sirius quietly.  
  
"Oh, no, not at all," I said. "For a totally different reason. You see, not too long ago, I'd say about 3 weeks, I found the Dream Crystal. Voldemort knew I had it, and he tried to torture me into giving it to him."  
  
"Tell me you didn't give in," groaned Sirius,  
  
"Didn't you hear me? I said 'tried.' He didn't get it from me, Sirius," I reassured him. "Do you want proof? Here." I pulled the Dream Crystal out and showed it to Sirius. Sirius's expression changed from worried to relieved to bemused faster than I could change gears on my bike.  
  
"That's the Dream Crystal?" he faultered.  
  
"Yeah," I said slowly, fingering it. "What'd you think it was? A hunk of stone?"  
  
"Actually, yes," Sirius replied. "I had no clue it was that necklace Lily always wore."  
  
"SIRIUS!" came a sharp voice from behind us. Whipping around, we saw Hermione standing in the archway, looking shocked. "What on EARTH do you think you're doing?" she half-yelled.  
  
"Talking to Emerald," said Sirius. "And, I might ask you the same question. What are you doing out here in Emerald's balcony?"  
  
"I heard voices from in here," she replied, still looking a little shocked, "so I came to investigate. Sirius, you know you aren't supposed to let anyone here know who you are."  
  
Sirius opened his mouth to explain when we heard another voice, no, two voices, coming from my doorway.  
  
"Are you alright?"  
  
"We thought we heard yelling."  
  
"Everything's fine, Harry," I sighed back. "And yes, Ron, you did hear yelling, though it wasn't me."  
  
Harry and Ron joined us on the balcony. They both looked extremely tired, but as soon as Ron saw Sirius in his human form, his eyes snapped wide open.  
  
"Sirius, what do you think you're doing?"  
  
"You know, you and Hermione should get together," I said thoughtfully. "That perfectly matches Hermione's reaction."  
  
Ron just gaped at me until Harry snapped him out of it by trodding on his foot. He turned as red as his hair, and then asked, "Sirius, how do you know you can trust her? Er, no offense, Emerald." "None taken," I grinned. Then I sighed. "Shall I explain it all to them, Sirius?"  
  
He shook his head. "I will."  
  
Harry leaned against the railing, yawning. "You go right ahead," he mumbled sleepily. "I've already heard it all."  
  
So, Sirius explained everything to Ron and Hermione, with help from me.  
  
"I never knew You-Know-Who had daughters," Ron said mindlessly.  
  
"Nobody did," Hermione replied. "He just seems too-too-"  
  
"Heartless?" Harry and I finished for her. 


	6. Sixth Chapter

By the time we finished talking, it was well past 2:00 A.M. The only light was the pale crescent moon overhead, which lit everything with a very soft glow. My room was as dark as black velvet.  
  
Suddenly, a mischievous idea formed in my mind, and I grinned evilly to myself. No one noticed because it was so dark.  
  
I slipped inside my room and groped around on my bed for one of the huge pillows. As soon as I found one, I hid myself behind the curtains, peeking out so I could see my target. When I saw the silhouette of a messy haired boy with glasses, I leaped forward out of my hiding place and brought my pillow down on his head. Harry yelped in surprise, causing the room to suddenly be luminated so Harry could see his attacker. He locked his eyes onto mine, his face slowly cracking into a malicious grin. I couldn't move, but I should have.  
  
Ron, who had been sneaking up on me, grabbed me around the waist and hoisted me up into the air, while I kicked my legs wildly in the air, laughing at the same time. He was at least 2 or 3 inches taller then me, and much stronger, so he was able to hold onto me without a problem while Harry scooped up a pillow.  
  
"You know this isn't fair, Harry," I gasped, still struggling to get out of Ron's hold.  
  
"Hey," he replied, getting into position, "I didn't start this."  
  
Harry raised his pillow, ready to strike, when out of nowhere, a pillow collided with his head. "She's right, you know, Harry," Hermione giggled, getting ready to strike again. Harry dodged her second blow and whammed his pillow into her stomach. Hermione fell onto the bed and rolled off it just as Harry smacked the bed where she'd been a moment before.  
  
"Ron, let go of me!" I laughed, trying to squirm out of his grasp. Ron just laughed in my ear and tightened his grip.  
  
Suddenly, two pillows walloped him on the head, causing Ron to stumble forward and release his hold on me. Not wasting a second, I plucked up a pillow and started to pound him with it.  
  
"Hey, now this isn't fair!" Ron protested, trying to get a pillow.  
  
"Now ya know how I feel!" I laughed back.  
  
Before long, though, Harry managed to shut Hermione in the closet by the bathroom (Hermione had been holding him off so I could wallop Ron). He threw his pillow at my head, and I tripped over Ron, landing on the bed. In an instant, Harry and Ron started to attack me with their pillows.  
  
"Sirius!" I gasped, covering my face with my hands. "Help!"  
  
"Sorry, Emerald," he chuckled, "you're on your own. I think I'll go back to bed now." And he slipped put the door after changing back into a dog.  
  
"Fine, be that way!" I yelled back. Suddenly, in the back of my mind, I heard D.C. chuckle.  
  
What's so funny? I thought.  
  
I'm laughing at myself, Emerald, D.C. replied.  
  
Why? Harry and Ron had switched tactics now. Ron was pinning me to the bed while Harry continued to whack me with his pillow.  
  
I forgot to teach you something useful. It's a shield, but not a Power. To activate it, just say Hdielsi noi. It'll throw Ron and Harry off of you, but won't hurt them, so you can get Hermione out of the closet. It also comes in handing when blocking curses and pillows.  
  
Thanks, D.C. I thought. Then, I warned Harry and Ron, "You had better get off of me now." "Why?" they asked at the same time.  
  
"Or else."  
  
"Or else what?"  
  
"Or else this," I said evilly. "Hdielsi noi!"  
  
A golden light surrounded me. It was pleasantly warm and tingled a little bit. I saw Ron and Harry's astonished faces for half a second before they were thrown into a pillow of pillows.  
  
"You can't say I didn't warn you," I said, shaking a finger at them. Then I turned around, walked to the closet Hermione was in, and unlocked the door. She tumbled out of it.  
  
"Thanks," she gasped, struggling up. As soon as she saw the golden mist surrounding me, her eyes widened. "How-?"  
  
"I'll tell you later. Right now," I grinned devilishly, "we have some butt to kick."  
  
Hermione laughed. We picked up a pillow each and stood in front of Harry and Ron, who were still struggling to get up from the mass of fluff surrounding them.  
  
"Ready, Hermione?"  
  
"As ready as I'll ever be," she replied. We raised our pillows and brought them down time after time upon Harry and Ron. In the meanwhile, they were throwing as many pillows as they could at us. The shield blocked them for me, but that meant they just bounced onto Hermione.  
  
"Eurgh," she said after a pillow hit her in the face. "Emerald, how do you get rid of that thing?"  
  
"Hmm. I'll try to remember," I took a step back from the battle, and thought, D.C, how do I turn it off?  
  
The counter charm is Hdielsi fofi. Oh, and to include someone who's touching you when you use it, say Necludii and then the persons name. And also, you will be able to contact me through your thoughts from now on if you need any advice.  
  
OK. Thanks again, D.C, I thought. "Ok, now I remember; Hdielsi fofi!" Instantly, the golden mist faded and the tingling stopped. I stepped next to Hermione and joined the pillow fight once more.  
  
"I win again, Harry!" I said, flopping onto the bed. "Well, Hermione and I win."  
  
"Yeah, but you cheated!" Harry complained, pulling himself up into a sitting position on the floor. "With that hidle-thingy."  
  
"Hdielsi," I corrected him. "And besides, you're forgetting something. Don't you remember our last pillow fight?"  
  
"Er," he said sheepishly.  
  
You've had another pillow fight?" Ron said in mock-awe. "Couldn't resist her charm, I guess."  
  
At this, both Hermione and I fired our pillows into Ron's face. Harry shoved him back into the pile of pillows, bright red.  
  
Ron sat up, laughing crazily.  
  
"Honestly," said Hermione, shaking her head. I smiled tiredly, my eyelids drooping.  
  
"Emerald?" Harry asked; his voice sounded far away.  
  
"Hmm?" I was fighting, now, to keep my eyes open. God, I tire easily, I thought to myself.  
  
"Ron and I could leave," he said, his voice drifting even further away. "If you want to go to bed and all-"  
  
"Nah, that's ok," I said. "Just [I yawned] 'sleep-over' here for tonight. We're already in our p.js, so it really [I yawned again] doesn't-"  
  
And then I gave in to the inevitable; I fell asleep.  
  
The next morning, I awakened to someone shaking me gently. For a second, I thought everything about escaping had all been some wondrous dream and I was Voldemort's prisoner again. Hey, I was more than half- asleep, so can you blame me? But then I realized that the person's touch was much too gentle for Goyle's. "Wake up, Emerald," someone said softly.  
  
"I don' wanna," I whined, turning over.  
  
"Shhh! You'll wake him!" the voice hissed. Now that I was (more or less) awake, I could recognize the voice. It was Hermione's.  
  
"Wake who?" I asked, more softly this time.  
  
"Harry!" Hermione whispered back. "Now get dressed. We've got to go to Hogsmeade."  
  
"For what?" I rolled out of bed and began to fumble with the latches on my trunk.  
  
"And here I thought you were an 'expert,' from reading those books," said Hermione vaguely, picking her way around the sleeping forms of Ron and Harry. I was about to reach for a plain shirt when, suddenly, everything clicked. I slapped myself on the forehead.  
  
"Of course I should've known!" I said. I walked lightly around Ron and Harry into the bathroom and dressed, splashing some water from the sink onto my face. When I emerged, Hermione was sitting on the unmade bed, talking quietly to Ron. Harry slept on.  
  
"Ok, then. It's all worked out," Hermione said triumphantly. "When Harry wakes up, Ron's going to lead him out to the Quidditch field. Mrs. Weasley is going to bake the cake and lunch, and Mr. Weasley is going to take us to Hogsmeade to get all the decorations and party favors. You can buy Harry's birthday present over there-"  
  
"Um, Hermione," I interrupted, "I only have my muggle money."  
  
"Hmm? Oh, that would be a problem, wouldn't it?" Hermione thought for a moment, and then said, "Well, maybe we can make a quick stop by Gringotts. If not, you can always borrow some money from me and pay me back when we get around to Gringotts."  
  
"Really? Thanks, Hermione!" I said, a little too loudly. Harry grunted a little and rolled over. I covered my mouth with my hands to suppress my laughter. "He looks like an angel, doesn't he?" said Ron sarcastically.  
  
"Hmm. Quite," said Hermione. I rolled my eyes.  
  
"So, what are we waiting for?" I jumped up and seized Hermione's wrist. "Let's go!"  
  
I dragged her out of my room and down two flights of staircases before letting go. Mr. Weasley was waiting for us in the living room. He was standing next to a huge stone fireplace with a purple drawstring bag in one hand. Even though it was July, there was a roaring fire in the fireplace.  
  
"Floo powder?" I asked skeptically.  
  
"Yes. Now, stand back." Mr. Weasley pulled out a pinch of powder from the bag and tossed it into the flames. They roared up even higher and turned a brilliant shade of emerald.  
  
"You first, Hermione," instructed Mr. Weasley. Hermione stepped into the flames and shouted, "Hogsmeade!" In a whirl of green light, she was gone.  
  
"Now you, Emerald."  
  
Taking a deep breath, I walked into the flames. Enjoying the pleasant warmth, I shouted, "Hogsmeade!" over the roar of the flames. Everything started to spin; so fast it made me dizzy and I had to close my eyes. When I felt myself slowing down, I flung my hands out in time to stop myself from falling onto the floor.  
  
I coughed and sputtered ash from my mouth and shook the dizziness from my head. Hermione was standing over me and helped me to my feet. A pop beside me told us that Mr. Weasley had arrived. "Where are we?" I asked, looking around. There were several tables and chairs everywhere, but only a few of the seats were filled. Their occupants were either drinking deeply from a tankard, reading a newspaper called The Daily Prophet, or chatting with friends.  
  
"We're in the Three Broomsticks," said Hermione briskly. "Now, let's go! Who knows how long Ron'll be able to distract Harry."  
  
"I'd say pretty long, since it involves 'Quidditch' and 'field' in the same sentence," I guessed, making Mr. Weasley chuckle.  
  
Mr. Weasley, Hermione, and I spent a happy three hours roaming throughout Hogsmeade. First, we went to Zonko's Joke Shop and bought a ton of Dungbombs, Filibuster's Wet-Start Fireworks, the party decorations, and at least fifteen cans of this new kind of silly string that changes colors as you spray. Then we visited Honeydukes. We bought so much candy that Mr. Weasley had to make it levitate behind us.  
  
As we walked around the street, our purchases floating behind us, I asked Hermione, "Hermione, what do you think Harry would like for a present?"  
  
"That," Hermione replied, pointing at something behind me. I turned and saw, in the display window of a novelty Quidditch supply shop, a golden Snitch floating above a violet cushion. Below the Snitch was a sign that read:  
  
The All New Practice Snitch!  
  
Tired of throwing substitute Snitches at the Seeker in practice? Well, now you don't have to! With the all new Practice Snitch, give your Seeker a chance to practice with a perfect model of the Snitch. The Practice Snitch is just as small and fast as a regular Snitch with one difference: when practice is over, just whistle and the Practice Snitch will come right to you! Only five galleons each!  
  
"Wow," I said, finishing reading. "I bet Harry would love that!"  
  
"Which is why I went in and bought it," said Hermione, holding out a wrapped box. "Gift-wrapped and all."  
  
"Oh, Hermione!" I said, throwing my arms around her neck. "Thank you so much!"  
  
"No problem," she said, prying me off her. "Now let's get going. We still have to decorate!"  
  
Ten minutes and a wild ride of spinning flames later, we were back at the cottage, decorating the dinning room while Ron kept Harry busy outside. When we were finished, Hermione told me to go get Harry and Ron.  
  
"Go on!" Hermione hissed, pushing me out the door. Harry and Ron were throwing apples at each other, soaring at least forty feet high in the air.  
  
"Harry! Ron!" I yelled, waving at them to come down. "Time to get you heads out of the clouds; lunch is ready!" Harry and Ron zoomed down to the ground. Well, Ron did, at least. Harry just flew straight at me. I crossed my arms and tapped my foot.  
  
"You know, if you wanted to play games," I said as Harry flew over my head at the last second, "you could at least choose a board game or some- HEY! You put me down right now!"  
  
Harry had flown up behind me, put an arm around my waist and pulled me onto his broom.  
  
"Harry, the would be fun is I was on my own broom," I complained as Harry soared higher.  
  
"Well, now I know what to get you for Christmas," Harry replied.  
  
"Ha, ha. Very funny," I said sarcastically. "You know Harry, if you want you lunch to spoil, fine. Soar higher. You're gonna get hingry sometime."  
  
"Fine. I'll just drop you off with Ron," said Harry, his eyes gleaming.  
  
"That's better. No-wait," I said suspiciously. "I know that look."  
  
"What look?" he asked innocently.  
  
"Just fly down to the ground and let me get off myself," I said, ignoring his question.  
  
"Jeez. Girls don't know how to have fun," commented Harry. He turned his broom around and sped toward the ground. I yelped with fear and grabbed his neck.  
  
"I do too know how to have fun," I protested. "I just don't want to end up an Emerald-pancake, thank you very much."  
  
Harry laughed. He was about three feet above the ground, so he pulled to a halt. I stepped off.  
  
"Thank you," I said, brushing invisible dust off of my arms. "Now, if you don't mind-"  
  
I grabbed his ear and hauled him from the broom. He started to protest, but I cut him off. "Just think of this as payback." 


	7. Seventh Chapter

When we reached the door, I pushed Harry inside, and a gigantic, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HARRY!" soon followed. I went inside to see the look on Harry's face. It was one mingled with surprise and amazement. As soon as he saw me, Harry pulled me into a breath-taking hug. Literately.  
  
"What-?" I said. Didn't he like Cho?  
  
"I thought you forgot my birthday," said Harry sheepishly, releasing me. "Did you plan all this, Emerald?"  
  
"Well, actually-"  
  
"Yeah, she did, Harry," Hermione interrupted. I shot her a puzzled look; she just winked.  
  
That afternoon was spent eating the wonderful angel food cake Mrs. Weasley had made, watching Harry open his gifts (he gave me yet another bear hug when he opened mine), and having a furious silly-string fight. We were just heading up to bed when Harry stopped me.  
  
"I just want to say thanks," he explained, picking the silly-string out of his hair.  
  
"No problem," I replied, "but Hermione lied. She was the one who was planned all this; I just helped her shop and decorate."  
  
"I know. Hermione always was a terrible liar; except when it mattered."  
  
"Like in your first year. With the troll and all."  
  
"Yeah." Harry shrugged. "So, er, thanks for the Practice Snitch. I'm really going to need it this year. I've been out of practice for too long."  
  
"You looked pretty good out there," I said awkwardly. This couldn't be the only reason Harry wanted to talk to me. He could've said this without talking to me alone.  
  
"Well," Harry continued, looking at everything but my face, "the real reason I wanted to talk to you is-" he took a deep breath "- wilyougoouwimi?" "Hmm?" I asked nervously. Oh, no! I thought desperately. What about Ginny? I couldn't stand it if I hurt her!  
  
"During the past week," Harry said slowly, "I've really gotten to- you know, like you. A- a lot. So, I was thinking, maybe we could be- you know..." His voice trailed off hopefully.  
  
"You were thinking we could go out," I finished his sentence for him.  
  
"Er, well, yeah," he said. His eyes met mine, and I melted. How could I say no? After all, he was cute, funny, and caring; all the qualities in the perfect boyfriend.  
  
But how could I not say no? I mean, Ginny had crushed on him ever since she first saw him. I didn't want to hurt her. I bit my lip and made up my mind.  
  
"Sure." I smiled. "That would be great."  
  
Harry's face lit up like a Christmas light. He pulled me into another embrace, but this one was softer. I returned it without a moment's hesitation. Already I could tell this year was going to be interesting. The next morning, Harry woke me up, fully dressed.  
  
"Rise and shine," he said, thrusting open my curtains, I shielded my eyes from the dazzling light of the sun.  
  
"Harry," I groaned, turning over, "Hermione did this to me yesterday. I need my beauty sleep."  
  
"Do you want to learn how to play Quidditch or not?" Harry asked, pulling the covers off of my body.  
  
"Yes, but why so early?" I mumbled, trying to grab the sheets back. Harry kept them out of my reach.  
  
"It's not early," Harry said. "It's 8:30. Now up and at 'em."  
  
I groaned. "Fine, fine." I rose and streched the sleep from my body. "Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to get dressed," I said, shooing Harry out.  
  
After I dressed, I splashed some cold water on my face. When I emerged from my room, Harry pushed me back inside; he had two brooms in his hand.  
  
"Harry," I said exasperatedly, "how are we going to get down to the field?"  
  
"We fly." Harry tossed me one of the broom sticks. "Come on." He walked out onto the balcony. I followed.  
  
As soon as I opened my mouth, Harry told me to mount my broom. I did so, and Harry corrected my grip on the handle.  
  
"Now kick off."  
  
I pushed myself as hard as I could from the ground, and suddenly, I was flying. Up and up I went, enjoying the feel of the wind on my face. After a few more seconds, Harry called me out of my thoughts.  
  
"La-la land again?" he said sarcastically.  
  
"Yep," I laughed back, soaring down to meet him; he was about 25 feet below me, which made me realize how far up I had actually been. "Well, if you're going to play Quidditch, la-la land should be the farthest place from your mind," Harry scolded, shaking a finger at me. I laughed and swatted him lightly on the head. He tried to look meanly at me, but all he managed was a kind of scrunched-up look.  
  
"Ew, stop that!" I squealed. "You look wrong!"  
  
His face relaxed. "But seriously, Emerald," he said, "you can get hurt at Quidditch. Believe me, I should know. Quidditch can be fun but it's also very-exhausting."  
  
As it turns out, it was. From that time until lunch, Harry showed me all the basics (which were really basic) and then all the tricks. Whenever I tried to do them, I just fell flat on my face.  
  
"It isn't funny!" I exclaimed as Harry laughed. He was holding his broom for support, he was laughing so hard. "Let's see how funny you find this," I mumbled to myself; I charged.  
  
Harry caught unaware, toppled backward as I rammed into him.  
  
"Gerroff me, Emerald!" Harry exclaimed, struggling to get out from under me.  
  
"How funny is it now, Harry?" I asked evily, pinning his wrists to the grassy field.  
  
"Very," was the reply. Harry shifted his weight and in one quick motion, the positions had been switched. Harry was now pinning me to the ground.  
  
"What the-? " I said, shocked. Harry shrugged, without letting go of me.  
  
"Quidditch reflexes," he guessed, leaning in closer. He was about an inch from my nose, when, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a flicker of red. I turned my head towards it in the last second, making Harry's lips smash into my cheek. "What was that?" I asked, looking for the source of the red.  
  
"What was what?" Harry asked, releasing his grip on my wrists. I sat up and hugged my knees to my chest.  
  
"I saw a flash of red out of the corner of my eye," I said, turning to face him. "Harry, I think it was Ginny."  
  
"Ginny?" replied Harry, his face blank.  
  
"Isn't it obvious?" I asked. "Ginny's liked you since, like, when you first met Ron at King's Cross. How do you think she'd feel if she saw our faces only an inch apart?"  
  
"Not very happy is my bet," Harry sighed, picking at the grass.  
  
Bulls-eye," I replied, staring off into space. "Harry, maybe we should keep our relationship under wraps until we get to Hogwarts."  
  
"Yeah," replied Harry, looking mildly somber. "Good idea."  
  
That night at dinner, Harry and I both avoided Ginny's eyes. We knew this made us look even more "guilty", but we were too afraid to see hurt in her eyes to care. Ginny was quiet all through dinner, hardly ever looking up from her food. This made me confirm the belief that the flash of red I saw was Ginny.  
  
Oh, Ginny, I'm so sorry! I told her silently. Please don't hate me forever.  
  
That night went much too slowly for my liking, or Harry's, and we were both glad to shut ourselves in our rooms. After I slipped into my p.js, I curled up in a ball under the soft covers of my bed. The events of the past month flashed through my mind in seconds.  
  
Me, escaping from Voldemort...  
  
My meeting with Harry...  
  
The birthday party...  
  
Oh, D.C, I thought, things are getting so complicated.  
  
Yes, I know, was the reply. But you aren't making them any easier by staying up all night. Go to be now; you need it.  
  
I will, I said, letting the connection drift. I closed my eyes, and in a few more seconds, fell asleep. Tap, tap. I groaned and rolled over, ignoring the sound.  
  
Tap, tap.  
  
"Wha' is it?? I said thickly, raising my head.  
  
a large barn owl was walking to and fro on the balcony railing. There was a letter tied to its leg. When it saw me looking, it ruffled it's feathers importantly and hooted impatiently.  
  
"Ok, ok," I said, rising out of bed. "Can I help it if I like to sleep in?"  
  
The owl just shot me a "not funny" look. When I reached it, it stuck out it's leg so I could unite the letter from it. When the owl was free from its burden, it took off.  
  
"What a friendly little bird," I said sarcastically, walking back inside.  
  
I sat down at the little desk by the archway and rolled open the letter.  
  
"Ohmigod," I gasped as I read it.  
  
Dear Ms. Destiny,  
  
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Enclosed is a list of supplies you will need for the coming year and a letter of congratulations from Headmaster Albus Dumbledore.  
  
Sincerely,  
  
Professor M. McGonagall  
  
"Ohmigod!" I whispered, setting the piece of parchment down. Reaching inside the envelope, I pulled out two more pieces. I scanned over the first piece, which was my supply list, then read the second.  
  
Emerald~  
  
I take it you are enjoying yourself at you current residence.  
  
Congratulations on getting accepted at Hogwarts. For your safety, I believe that we should present you as an American transfer student. We don't want to raise any suspicions. I look forward to seeing you at Hogwarts when term starts. Congratulations again.  
  
Sincerely,  
  
Professor Dumbledore  
  
"No way," I said, staring off into the thick woods surrounding the backyard. "I'm going to be a witch."  
  
I hopped out of the chair and jumped around the room.  
  
"I'm going to be a witch!" I laughed crazily, running across the hall to Harry's room. I jumped up on the bed next to his sleeping form and bounced up and down. His eyes flung open and he sat bolt upright, looking around frantically.  
  
"What's the matter?" he asked thin air. "What-?" He caught sight of me. "Good God, Emerald, what are you trying to do, give me a heart attack?" Harry reached for his glasses and put them on.  
  
"I'm going to be a witch!" I half-screamed, hugging Harry and knocking his glasses askew.  
  
"Wha-what?" Harry gasped. I released him and fixed his glasses.  
  
"You heard me. I'm going to be a witch," I said happily.  
  
"That's great!" Harry said. He took my hand and kissed my cheek. "Now I get to show off my new Barbie doll."  
  
"That's so funny I forgot to laugh," I said blankly. "I hate Barbie dolls."  
  
"Then would you settle for fashion model?"  
  
I laughed. "Like they'd buy that."  
  
"They don't have to," said Harry. "I believe it,"  
  
"You are such a major suck-up."  
  
"I know." Harry shrugged.  
  
"Hey, Harry," I said, "did you get your letter from Hogwarts?"  
  
"Yeah, I think so." Harry looked over at his desk. There was an envelope on it. "Yep."  
  
"I wonder when we're going to Diagon Alley." My question was answered at lunch.  
  
"So did you all get your letters today?" asked Mrs. Weasley.  
  
"Yes," everyone chorused.  
  
"Well, then, I'll go over to Diagon Alley and get your things," Mrs. Weasley stated.  
  
"You don't have to," I began.  
  
"Nonsense." Mrs., Weasley waved my words away. "I have to go over there anyway."  
  
"Ok, if it's no problem for you," I said. "Um, could I ask you a favor?"  
  
"Of course, dear."  
  
"I only have Muggle money, so could you exchange it at Gringotts for me?" I asked tentatively.  
  
"I'd be happy to," Mrs. Weasley said, smiling.  
  
"Thanks," I said, relieved.  
  
"Hey, Emerald," Ron said suddenly, "you brought your bathing suit, right?"  
  
"I think so," I said slowly. Ron and Harry exchanged evil grins.  
  
"Meet us at the swimming pool in ten minutes," said Harry. "Everybody else, too."  
  
"First pillow fights, now this," I muttered to Hermione as Harry and Ron disappeared upstairs. Hermione giggled.  
  
"Well, we better go change," she said. "Come on."  
  
I followed Hermione up the two flights of stairs to our bedrooms. Harry and Ron ran past us on our way. Ron was wearing bright orange swim trunks, and Harry was wearing lime green. In one hand, Harry carried a bag of what looked to be balloons.  
  
"A water balloon fight?" I whispered to Hermione before she disappeared into her room.  
  
"How childish," she murmured back. I grinned and slipped inside my room. I searched around my trunk for my bathing suit- a blue Jantzen E.B. bikini. After putting it on, I wrapped a white towel from the bathroom around my waist and put my hair in a ponytail. Somebody knocked on the door just as I finished. I opened it to find Hermione in a bathing suit almost like mine except it was black.  
  
"You look good," I said, beaming at her.  
  
"Ditto," commented Hermione. Then she grinned. "Let's go; we have a water fight to win."  
  
"Totally," I said, walking out of my room. On our way downstairs, we met Fred and George, who were both wearing sky blue swim trunks, and Ginny. She was wearing a yellow tankini with a white swim skirt tied around her waist.  
  
"Hey, Ginny," I said, trying to be friendly. She shot me a cold look which lasted for a few seconds, then replied, "Hey."  
  
The rest of the way downstairs was uncomfortably silent. I was somewhat glad for the "unexpected" shower of water balloons when we emerged outside.  
  
Throwing my towel on a nearby lounging chair, I picked up on of the unbroken balloons and hurled it at Harry, hitting him right in the back of his head. He turned around and charged at me. I laced my hands behind my back and stepped aside as he reached me, causing Harry to take a surprise dip in the clear water.  
  
"How is it?" I asked as Harry's head bobbed up and down. He spat out an arch of water. I laughed.  
  
Suddenly, a rubber something connected with my back and exploded, sending a wave of cold water down my hips and legs. I turned around and found a half-circle of teens in bathing suits, each holding a good sized, brightly colored water balloon.  
  
"Uh-oh," I said, automatically taking a step back. Unfortunately, all that was there was the pool. I wobbled a little bit and toppled in after Fred landed a balloon on my stomach.  
  
"What'd you do that for?" I asked after I swam back up to the surface.  
  
"'Cus it's always fun singling one person out," said George, winking. Turning to Harry, I recognized the familiar glint in his eyes that meant he was up to something.  
  
"Oh, no," I said, backing away.  
  
"Oh, yes," Harry insisted, diving after me. I screamed and squirmed out of his arms, half-running, half-swimming towards the stairs. After a while, Harry managed to securely pin my arms to my side and keep me from running away.  
  
"You've got it in for me, don't you, Harry?" I asked, struggling helplessly against him.  
  
"Maybe," he laughed back, squeezing tighter. "Ready?" Fred, George, Ron, and Ginny raised their balloons.  
  
"Three..."  
  
"No, don't!"  
  
"Two..."  
  
Harry-"  
  
"One!" Ron finished. Four brightly colored, water filled balloons were loosed, exploding on my in various places.  
  
"Ok, you've had your fun, now let me go!" I insisted. "Aw, you're no fun," Harry whined.  
  
"I'm not?"  
  
"Nope."  
  
"Well, excuse me for not wanting to be bombarded with water balloons!" I laughed. "Really, Harry. Let me go."  
  
"Ok." Harry released his grip on me. I landed with a splash in the pool. I turned to Harry, hands on my hips.  
  
"Now, was that so hard?" I asked as though talking to a little child.  
  
"No," Harry said. Turning to the Weasleys and Hermione, Harry shouted, "Come swim with us!"  
  
A series of yells filled the air as five people ran up to the edge of the pool and jumped in, yelling, "Cannon ball!"  
  
I shielded my face from the water as Ron, Fred, George, Hermione, and Ginny splashed into the water. The rest of the afternoon passed quickly as we splashed each other, dived, and swam laps. By the time we all went in, the sun was very low in the sky.  
  
We climbed the stairs to our bedrooms to dry off and dress for dinner. Ginny shot Harry and me a very cold look before shutting herself in her room. Harry glanced worriedly at me, and I gazed reassuringly back. He gave my hand a squeeze before disappearing in his room. I slipped into mine, took a quick shower, and dressed in my clothes from the morning. I barely noticed the pile of paper wrapped packages and sack of money on my bed before I dashed out. 


	8. Eighth Chapter

The next morning, someone woke me by shaking me lightly. I opened my eyes blearily to find Mrs. Weasley standing over me.  
  
"I'm sorry to wake you, dear, but I've just remembered that you haven't got a wand," she explained. My eyes widened.  
  
"I forgot, too!" I exclaimed, hurrying out of bed. "Thanks for reminding me!"  
  
After I had dressed and stuffed a handful of money into my pockets, I met Mrs. Weasley by the grand fireplace for the trip to Ollivander's. We used floo powder to get there directly.  
  
A few moments later, I emerged in a dark, musty old shop. I could feel a tingle of something that occupied every inch, every molecule of this place. Rows upon rows of tin boxes on shelves lined the walls.  
  
"Good day," said a voice from my left. I turned and saw an old man on a ladder, staring at me.  
  
"Hello," I said awkwardly. The man looked me over.  
  
"A little old to be getting your first wand, aren't you?" he asked, descending from the ladder and looking around the shelves.  
  
"I'm not exactly from around here, sir," I said as the man picked out a box. He handed it to me.  
  
"Try this one," he instructed, taking out a long piece of wood. "13 1/2 inches, yew, dragon heartstring."  
  
I took the wand in my hand and waved it around. Nothing at all happened. The man took the wand from me.  
"No, it's not right for you at all," he said, replacing the box. He picked another from the shelves. "What about this one? 10 inches, holly, with a unicorn hair."  
  
Again, nothing happened when I waved it. While Mr. Ollivander (who else could it be?) searched for another wand, I ran my hand lightly over a row of wand boxes. Suddenly, some force made me stop and pull out the wand box my fingers were on. On the box, graceful letters spelled out the wand's combination; 12 inches, rowan, and-  
  
"What's a fatum lapis?" I asked mindlessly, fingering the box. Mr. Ollivander walked over to me and took the box. His eyes attained a very mysterious glow to them.  
  
"Ah," he said slowly, lifting the lid off the box. "A very strange combination; very rare, also. The most recent person to own a wand containing fatum lapis shavings lived about a century ago."  
  
"What's a fatum lapis?" I asked again. Mr. Ollivander looked at me for a moment, holding the wand in his hands. Finally, after what seemed like eternity, he answered me.  
  
"There are many kinds of lapi," he said slowly. "Each has its own magical properties. A naturalis lapis is focused on nature; plants, animals, and insects. It is one of the more common lapi. One other lapis is known as the pario lapis. It's used in potions that help to create something. It's among the more hard-to-find lapi. A fatum lapis, however, is the rarest lapis of them all. So rare, in fact, that barely 1/4 teaspoon of its shavings are used in wands that require it, while usually 1 teaspoon is used. And having a wand that contains fatum lapis shavings is very rare, too." Mr. Ollivander handed me the wand. As he did so, he added, "I believe fifth year is when you learn about lapi. Every class puts in its own lesson on the lapis that has to do with that subject."  
  
I listened to Mr. Ollivander as though he were very far away. My mind was fixated on the wand in my hands. Suddenly, the tan wand began to glow white. The charm around my neck responded by glowing gold. They both released a pleasantly warm heat. Then, the heat and glowing faded away, and I remembered that Mr. Ollivander was watching.  
  
"I think we have found your wand," he said quietly. "Or rather, your wand has found you."  
  
I paid Mr. Ollivander for my wand and returned to the cottage (Mrs. Weasley had just dropped me off). I raced up the stairs to my room, deposited my wand on the four-poster, and ripped open the packages until I found what I was looking for; a book titled Lapi Around the World by Carus Baca. I flipped to the index of the book and ran my finger down the columns of words until I found it. I turned to the page describing the fatums lapis and read:  
  
Fatum lapis- The rarest of all lapi, it is only found in Ireland and Australia. The fatum lapis has many uses; fortune telling, healing, calming, protecting, and many others. The color of this precious stone differs depending on where it is found; silver, if from Ireland, and scarlet, if from Australia. The potions it is used in are as numerous as its uses. However, most of those potions have been banned by the Ministry of Magic in all countries. The only two that have not been banned are the Snow-heal potion and the Black Moon potion. For more information on these potions, see Lapi Potions by Validus Potio. For more information on the uses of the fatum lapi, see chapter 4.  
  
I spent the remainder of the day reading everything I could find on the strange stone by the name of "fatum lapis."  
  
The rest of the summer passed in a blur; too fast, in my opinion. On the way to King's Cross (Mr. Weasley had borrowed some Ministry cars to escort us), I leaned my head against the window and stared out at the sunny sky. My emotions were mixed; I felt elated at finally being able to go to Hogwarts, but I was going to miss the pleasant summer days spent at the cottage.  
  
After one final bound, we were at King's Cross Station. Mr. Weasley loaded our trunks, the owls, and Crookshanks onto the trolleys he had found for us and steered us into the station. We came to a stop in front of the barrier dividing platforms nine and ten.  
  
"Ok," said Mr. Weasley, glancing at the clock, "we have five minutes. Harry, you, Ron, Hermione, and Emerald go first."  
  
I took a steadying breath, turned my trolley towards the barrier, and started to run towards it. I closed my eyes when I was a foot away, and, ten seconds later, opened them to find myself standing on a noisy platform. A scarlet train had many people leaning out of its open windows to talk to others, steam puffing gently from the pistons. A sign above me read "Platform 9 3/4: Hogwarts Express." Grinning, I moved out of the way as Harry, Hermione, and the Weasleys appeared behind me.  
We boarded the Hogwarts Express and found an empty compartment near the end of it. I pushed my trunk up onto the luggage rack next to Harry's and sat down. A few minutes later, a whistle blew somewhere. The pistons on the train hissed and the Hogwarts Express began to chug slowly out of the station. We stuck our heads out of the window and waved to Mr. Weasley until he was out of sight.  
  
Harry and Ron were talking about Quidditch (again) and Hermione was curled up in a corner reading Hogwarts, A History, stroking Crookshanks. I sighed and pulled out Lapi Around the World, starting on reading about the different uses of the lapi. I had just finished reading the uses for the mutatio lapis when Harry yanked the book out of my hands.  
  
"Lapi Around the World?" he asked, looking the book over. "Not this book again, Emerald! You've been reading it for most of the summer!"  
  
"It's a wonderful source of information," I said plainly, plucking the book back from him.  
  
"What kind of information?" Harry asked. Hermione looked up from her book.  
  
"Honestly, Harry," she said. "I don't see Emerald bugging you for talking about Quidditch all summer."  
  
Harry reddened slightly, then asked, "What is a lapi, anyway?"  
  
"Lapis," I corrected him. "Lapi is the plural."  
  
"Oh. So what is a lapis then?"  
  
"A lapis is a small stone that holds magical properties. Lapi can be found in every country," I said, closing my book.  
  
"And why, exactly, are you so interested in lapi?" Ron inquired.  
  
"Why are you so interested in Quidditch?" Hermione snapped tersely. I ignored her.  
  
"Lapi shavings are in my wand," I answered Ron, picking my wand up and fingering it. It started to get a little warm, but not as warm as in Ollivander's.  
"You're joking!" said Hermione. "That's really rare!"  
  
"I know. Mr. Ollivander said that the last person to own a wand containing lapi shavings lived 100 years ago," I told them.  
  
"Wow. What kind of lapis is it?" Hermione said,  
  
"A fatum lapis," I replied softly. "The rarest kind."  
  
When the lunch trolley arrived, Harry bought mounds of pumpkin pasties, cauldron cakes, Bertie Bott's Every Flavors Beans, chocolate frogs, and nameless other sweets, along with some pumpkin juice. I had fun tasting a bit of everything, and I nearly threw up after a tasted a funny pastel pink jelly bean which turned out to be liver.  
  
"I can't believe you convinced me to eat that!" I laughed, gulping down some pumpkin juice. Harry and Ron were doubled up in silent laughter, and even Hermione couldn't keep a straight face.  
  
"I can't believe they convinced you of anything," said a sarcastic voice. A pale-face boy with white-blonde hair and slightly pointed features stood in the compartment door, flanked with two huge, thuggish boys who were scowling and flexing their fists. Harry and Ron stopped laughing.  
  
"Malfoy," Harry growled.  
  
"Ew," I whined, pinching my nose. "Does anyone else smell dragon dung?"  
  
Hermione stifled a laugh, and Ron grinned at me. Malfoy glared.  
  
"Who, exactly, are you?" he asked with disgust.  
  
"I should tell you because... why?" I shot back at him. Malfoy grabbed my wrist and yanked me up so our eyes were level.  
  
"Because I'll find out anyway," he hissed.  
  
"Then wait," I retorted. Malfoy started to twist my arm.  
  
"I don't like to wait," he said maliciously. "You don't want to get on my bad side."  
  
I twisted around, using a move I learned in my women's defense class. Soon, Malfoy was flat on his back on the floor with my left foot on his chest.  
  
"I don't care what side of you I'm on," I said savagely. "You don't scare me, Death Eater or no for a father."  
  
I lifted my foot off of Malfoy's chest. He stood shakily up, looking vaguely panicked. I pointed a finger at the door. "Get out."  
  
Malfoy glared angrily at me before storming past the two thugs in the doorway. They followed him.  
  
Harry, Ron, and Hermione stared at me. I sighed and sank into the seat next to Harry. He put an arm around me and pulled me closer; I laid my head on his shoulder.  
"I have a feeling Malfoy's going to tell dear old daddy about this," I sighed. "I shouldn't have lost my temper."  
  
"Are you kidding?" said Ron excitedly. "That was awesome!"  
  
"I'm glad you think so." I smiled.  
  
Slowly, the scenery outside the window began to change. thick wood surrounded us on both sides, and the sky slowly darkened. We changed into our Hogwarts robes and finished just as the train screeched to a halt. I glanced nervously at Harry, and he winked as we disembarked from the Hogwarts Express. A voice boomed through the night around us.  
  
"Firs' years, over 'ere!" A looming figure holding a lamp walked up to Harry, Ron, Hermione, and me.  
  
"Hello, Hagrid," said Hermione cheerfully. "Have a nice summer?"  
  
"All right," Hagrid said. "I was, er, busy fer most of it, but it was all right. An 'oo's this?"  
  
I grinned at Hagrid as Ron introduced me.  
  
"This is Emerald," Ron said. "She's a, um, American transfer student."  
  
"Nice ter meet ya," said Hagrid, shaking my arm.  
  
"Likewise," I replied.  
  
"Well, better get goin'," said Hagrid. "Carriages'll be leavin' in a bit."  
  
"Ok," said Harry. "Bye, Hagrid."  
  
We made our way towards the horseless carriages and climbed into one. A few seconds later, they lurched forward towards the castle.  
  
I looked out the carriage window as we passed two stone pillars, and gasped. In the moonlight, Hogwarts castle looked like it came out of a storybook. Rectangles of light dotted the many towers and turrets, winking as people passed them. The towers stood at different heights, looking like an array of witches' hats.  
"Oh, wow," I whispered, wide-eyed. "It looked so much more mysterious than I imagined it."  
  
When the carriages stopped, we climbed out and walked into the entrance hall. I looked around excitedly as we entered the Great Hall and seated ourselves at the Gryffindor table. Hundreds of candles levitated over the tables, where students were talking animatedly to there friends. Looking up, I saw a black sky punctured by dozens of little lights that winked and flickered at us. I lowered my gaze to the fifth table in the hall, where all the teachers were sitting. A tiny man was sitting in a chair filled with pillows so he could see over the table was talking to a woman on his right. Flitwick, I thought, my gaze roaming. And, ooh, that's Snape! I stared at him for a minute or so, taking in his long, greasy- looking black hair, hooked nose, and sallow face. After that, I forced myself to look away from him. My gaze fell on the two empty seats, which were probably Hagrid's and Professor McGonagall's, and then on Dumbledore. His eyes were half-closed behind his glasses, and his head was resting on his hands. His long, silver beard and hair glistened slightly in the candle light.  
  
"Everything's just as I imagined it," I told Harry, who was sitting right next to me.  
  
"Including the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher?" he asked. A woman with waist-length, silvery-blonde hair and an even, white-toothed smile was sitting next to Dumbledore, beaming at nothing in particular.  
"Is that Fleur?" Ron asked in a choked voice, going pink.  
  
"It looks like it," Hermione replied. "Well, no surprise, really. She did say she was planning to get a job here when we last saw her."  
  
"I didn't think she was serious!" Ron sputtered. I laughed.  
  
"You still like her, Ron?" I teased. He went red.  
  
"I like her about as much as you like Harry," Ron said indignantly. "Judging from the events over the summer, I'd say that wouldn't be a lot."  
  
"Oh, but it is," I said. "Do you want to tell them, Harry?"  
  
"Tell us what?" Hermione asked.  
  
"We're kind of, well, going out," said Harry, going pink. Hermione giggled; Ron stared.  
  
"No way!" he said.  
  
"Stop sounding so surprised," I said.  
  
"But I am," Ron said. "Well, then, I better change my analogy. Ok; I like Fleur as much as Emerald likes Malfoy."  
  
"But I don't like-"  
  
"My point exactly."  
  
After a few more minutes, Hagrid squeezed into the Hall, took his seat, and waved at us. We smiled and waved back.  
  
Suddenly, the doors burst open, and a strict looking witch lead a stream of terrified looking first-years through the suddenly silent students. She carried a 3-legged stool and a battered, worn-out hat.  
"McGonagall," Ron whispered to me as she set the stool down and placed the hat on it. Everything was silent for a few seconds, in which every pair of eyes in the hall were fixed upon the hat. Then, a rip near the brim opened wide like a mouth, and the hat broke into song:  
  
I may be old and battered  
  
I may look worn and thin  
  
But never judge by what you see  
  
Because I can see within  
  
I can tell where you'll do best  
  
In one of the houses on the Hogwarts crest:  
  
Great Gryffindor always prized the brave  
  
They'd stand up for what was right  
  
And drive off any knave  
  
Renowned Ravenclaw looked for the wise  
  
They'd solve any problem  
  
And to every challenge rise  
  
Honorable Hufflepuff welcomed all those who were loyal  
  
They'd never turn their backs upon a friend  
  
And were unafraid of toil  
  
Shrewd Slytherin searched for the sly  
  
But those who were pure of blood  
  
Were the only ones who'd satisfy  
  
So where of these four will you reside?  
  
That's where I come in  
  
Remember never judge by what you see  
  
Because I can see within  
  
As soon as the hat finished, the hall burst into applause. When everyone had quieted down, Professor McGonagall produced a length of parchment from her robes and turned to face us. She unrolled the parchment.  
"When I call your name," McGonagall said, "you will sit on the stool, and I will place the Sorting Hat on your head. When you are sorted, you will join the rest of your house at the correct table." Professor McGonagall cleared her throat and read out the first name, "Affriel, Gabby!" A blonde girl ran up to the stool, and McGonagall placed the Sorting Hat on her head. After a moment, it called out, "Hufflepuff!"  
  
The Hufflepuffs applauded Gabby as she joined them, smiling broadly.  
  
"Aline, Mark!"  
  
"Ravenclaw!"  
  
"Aura, Lauren!"  
  
"Slytherin!"  
  
The Sorting seemed to take forever. By the time McGonagall had called out the final name (she was Sorted into Gryffindor) I was half-asleep. What she said next, though, jolted me out of Slumber Land.  
  
"We have one more person to sort," she informed the Hall. "She has traveled here all the way from California, and is Hogwarts first American transfer student. Will Emerald Destiny please come up here?"  
  
Slowly, I rose out of my seat and walked towards Professor McGonagall. I could feel hundreds of eyes upon me as I made my way to the stool. Upon reaching it, I sat down and closed my eyes, feeling the Sorting hat being placed on my head. Everything was silent, and then- 


	9. Ninth Chapter

I'd been wondering when I was going to see you, a voice said in my ear, making me jump. Hmm... you're almost as difficult to sort as your father.  
  
My father? I thought, stunned.  
  
Yes, indeed, the voice continued. I can see that you have many qualities in common. You both are friendly-  
  
But my father was never friendly, I thought. Not the one I knew.  
  
I am talking about your real father, the voice said patiently. Not your adoptive one.  
  
Oh.  
  
As I was saying; you and your father both are friendly, creative, and have a knack for coming up with the most absurd pranks.  
  
I smiled, remembering the summer.  
  
You both are brave and would willingly give you lives for your friends. Hmm... yes, and you both will be in the same house:  
  
"GRYFFINDOR!" The hat shouted the last word so the whole Hall could hear. It was taken off my head and I re-joined the wildly applauding Gryffindors, sitting down next to Harry again. He was grinning from ear to ear.  
  
As soon as the clapping died down, Professor Dumbledore stood up, beaming around the Hall. "Before we begin the feast, I have some things that hold some importance," he said. "First of all, first year should note that the Forbidden Forest is off-limits. I trust our prefects and new Head Boy and Girl to reinforce this." As he said this, Dumbledore at Hermione.  
  
"How come you didn't tell us?" Ron whispered. Hermione opened her mouth to answer, but at that moment, Dumbledore started to speak again.  
  
"Secondly, seeing as most of the houses are missing captains for their Quidditch teams, I am asking the members of each house to vote for the Quidditch player on your team who you think is most worthy of being captain. And, lastly, let us all welcome our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Ms. Flue Delacour!"  
  
Everyone clapped loudly, and Fleur smiled around. Ron went red again and clapped once.  
  
"I think that is everything," said Dumbledore. "Yes, that's all. Now. let's eat!"  
  
I looked away from Dumbledore and saw that the golden plates on our table had been filled with foods of all kinds. I took a little of everything and began to eat. Harry and Ron started talking about who might become Gryffindor Quidditch captain.  
  
"Maybe Fred or George," said Harry through a mouthful of mashed potatoes.  
  
"What about you?" Ron asked, starting on a chicken leg.  
  
"Me? Nah." Harry shook his head.  
Next to me, Hermione was talking excitedly about the next day and what classes I met get.  
  
"I hope you get Arithmancy, or Study of Ancient Runes," se said. "It'll be good to have someone to talk about the lessons for a change."  
  
"That runes class sounds interesting," I said, cutting up a piece of ham with my fork. "I've always been interested in lost languages."  
  
The feast went on cheerfully, and when Dumbledore stood up to send us all to bed, it was a while before everyone quieted down. When the last whisper had faded, Dumbledore said, "Now we have filled ourselves to the brim, it is time for bed. Lessons begin tomorrow, and I doubt anyone would want to sleep in and be late for the first class of term."  
  
Everyone got up out of their seats, talking again. I followed Harry, Ron, and Hermione up the marble staircase and along a corridor that ended with a picture of a fat lady dressed in pink. When we halted before her, she said, "Password?"  
  
"Ater lebes," said Hermione. The fat lady swung open on her hinges to reveal a huge hole about a foot off the ground. We climbed into it, and moments later, I found myself standing in the Gryffindor common room.  
Scarlet, comfortable looking couches and armchairs were placed around the circular room, some in front of the fire, some facing each other with what looked like a chess table between them, and some pulled up to wooden tables that were scratched and indented in. In the fireplace, a fire was roaring happily, sending flickering shadows upon the walls. A few people were lounging on the armchairs, talking with their friends. Ginny was among them. When she caught sight of Harry and me, her eyes glared fiercely, but she looked away quickly.  
  
I sighed and followed Hermione up the staircase to the girls dormitory, passing a large box labeled "Quidditch Captain Votes" on the way.  
  
We climbed the stairs to a door that had a sign nailed to it that read, "5th Years." Hermione pushed it open, and I saw a circular room as big as the ones in the cottage that had five four-poster beds arranged around it. The hangings on three of them were drawn shut; open trunks stood at the end of them. Hermione and I took the remaining two (our trunks were already at the end of them), changed into our pajama's behind our hangings, and talked in whispers about the possible classes I could get. When we could no longer keep our eyes open, we said good-night and curled up under the crimson sheets. I thought I would have a terrible time falling asleep for all the adrenaline rushing through me, but as soon as I closed my eyes, I fell into a deep sleep.  
Since it had been so long, I was a bit surprised to see a golden mist everywhere. I blinked away my surprise and grinned.  
  
"Hello, D.C.," I said, sitting down and crossing my legs.  
  
"Hello," came the cheerful reply.  
  
"Um, D.C.," I said suddenly, "why haven't I been dreaming about you since  
  
I escaped from Voldemort?"  
  
"Because you didn't need to," D.C. said slowly.  
  
"Do I need to now?" I asked. There was a long pause. "D.C.?"  
  
"I don't know if you need to," D.C. admitted. "You're probably dreaming this because Hogwarts is so magical."  
  
"That's part of it, D.C.," came a clear voice behind me. I jumped up and whipped around. A tall woman with long, wavy red hair and bright green eyes was smiling at me.  
  
"Hello, Emerald," she said cheerfully.  
  
"Er," I said. How does she know my name?  
  
"Lily!" D.C. exclaimed. I stared.  
  
"Lily? As in Lily Potter?" I said, shocked. Lily nodded. "But, I thought-"  
  
"No," she said firmly. "I'm not dead. Neither is James."  
  
"How-" I gasped as a man with untidy black hair and sky blue eyes that sparkled with laughter appeared next to Lily. He took her hand and looked at me.  
  
"You've changed so much since we last saw you," he said.  
  
"Before-" Lily began, but she broke off. Her eyes shimmered with tears.  
  
"Before what?" I asked. I didn't get an answer, because at that very moment, the golden mist began to fade. "No!" I shouted, but too late. It was gone.  
My eyes snapped open. Sunshine was streaming through a tiny opening in my hangings, right into my eyes. I shielded my eyes and threw off the sheets. After dressing in my Gryffindor robes (I stood for 5 minutes in front of the mirror admiring them), I headed down for breakfast.  
  
When I entered the Great Hall and joined Harry, Ron, and Hermione, Professor McGonagall had nearly finished distributing the class schedules. Once she sighted me, she hurried over and handed me mine.  
  
"You might want to eat quickly," McGonagall advised me. "Lessons start in half an hour.  
  
"Ok," I said, loading my plat with hash browns, bacon, and pancakes. "Thanks."  
  
While I ate, I looked over my schedule. Harry snatched it out of my hands and compared it with his.  
  
"You've got exactly the same schedule as Ron and me!" he exclaimed.  
  
"Really?" I asked, taking his and my schedules and comparing them. He was right, except for one thing. "But instead of Double Divination every Thursday, I have the Study of Ancient Runes."  
  
"You do?" Hermione exclaimed. "So have I!"  
  
"Cool," I said, grinning. As we finished eating, a loud bell chimed from somewhere within the castle, signaling the start of lessons/ Standing up and talking vividly, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and I made our way outside towards the greenhouses for our first lesson; Herbology.  
We joined the mass of students outside the greenhouses just as a squat little with a patched hat perched on her wild hair arrived.  
  
"We'll be planting snap dragons and fairy wings today," she announced, motioning to the many pots behind her. Some pots contained orange flowers that squirmed and twisted to get out of their pots. Others contained purple, transparent flowers shaped like dragonfly wings. Every now and then, one would flap its petals for a moment and then sigh softly. The squat little witch continued.  
  
"When you are working with the snap dragons, be sure to wear your dragon hide gloves," the witch warned. "They have a very painful bite." As if to prove a point, one of the orange flowers suddenly snapped at an unwary fly.  
  
The squat witch started to assign pairs of students to flowers and areas to plant them in. Harry and I received five pots of fairy wings each and a section of grass in front of greenhouse two; Ron and Hermione were planting snap dragons nearby. We could see them laughing and throwing clumps of dirt at each other.  
  
"Aren't they cute?" I asked, giving the dirt covering the roots of the flower I just planted a good pat.  
  
"Oh, yeah," Harry laughed, taking another fairy wing out of its pit. "Although they aren't as cute as us."  
  
"Suck-up."  
  
"Barbie."  
  
"I thought it was fashion model."  
  
"Yeah, but that's a compliment."  
After Herbology, everyone tramped up the stairs for a quick wash and then made their way towards Hagrid's hut for Care of Magical Creatures. I groaned as I saw Malfoy talking with the two thugs that had been with him on the train.  
  
"I wish we didn't have this class with the Slytherins," I complained to Harry, Ron, and Hermione. They nodded in agreement as we joined the group milling around Hagrid's hut.  
  
As soon as Malfoy saw me, he smirked and walked over to us.  
  
"Hello, Emerald," he sneered. I pinched my nose.  
  
"Go away, dragon dung," I snapped.  
  
"Why should I?" Malfoy challenged.  
  
"Because I'll disfigure your ugly face even more," I shot back.  
  
"Is that so?" Malfoy jeered. I nodded and started to bounced around.  
  
"Come one, come all!" I shouted. "Center attraction is Draco Malfoy, the amazing bouncing ferret!"  
  
The Gryffindors roared with laughter, and even some of the Slytherins couldn't keep a straight face. Malfoy's pale face, now tinted with pink, showed an expression of deep hatred. He opened his mouth to retort, but at that moment, Hagrid came out from behind his hut.  
  
"Hallo, there!" he said happily. "Fun lesson planned fer today. Follow me 'round back, and stay quiet."  
We followed Hagrid to the back of his hut. I gasped, and so did a few other people.  
  
A beautiful, swan-sized, scarlet bird was sitting peacefully on the wooden railing behind Hagrid's hut. It had a large golden beak and tail, and beautiful black eyes.  
  
"Is that a phoenix, Hagrid?" I asked.  
  
"Yup," said Hagrid. "Dumbledore lent 'im to me fer the lesson.  
  
"First off, who can tell me some powers phoenix posses?" Hermione's hand shot up in the air, followed by Harry's. Hagrid called on Harry.  
  
"Their tears have healing powers," he said.  
  
"Right. Five points to Gryffindor. Hermione?" said Hagrid.  
  
"They can vanish and reappear someplace else at will," she said promptly.  
  
"Right again. Take another five points," said Hagrid, beaming. He spent the next 15 minutes of class walking around with the phoenix perched on his arm, letting people pet him and telling the class phoenix facts. When Hagrid reached Harry, the phoenix trilled a short note and disappeared, reappearing on Harry's shoulder.  
  
"Get off, Fawkes," Harry said uncomfortably, trying to push him back to Hagrid. Fawkes piped indignantly and disappeared again. He reappeared on my shoulder. I was startled at this because I never actually had met a phoenix, let alone Fawkes. All the same, though, his warm weight on my shoulder was comforting to have there... in a sense.  
  
"Fawkes," I whispered to the phoenix, "I'm very pleased you trust me, but Hagrid really needs to teach his lesson."  
  
The phoenix let out a sort of cross between a sigh and a chirp, but he rose off my shoulder and flew back onto Hagrid's arm.  
  
"That's odd," said Hagrid. "I've never known any phoenix to act that way. Harry, Emerald, stay a moment after class so I can talk ter ya."  
  
In a few minutes, a bell rang form somewhere in the castle. While the rest of the class departed for their next lessons, Harry and I stayed behind to talk to Hagrid.  
  
"I want you two ter come ter the headmaster's office t'night at 7," he murmured to us. "Password's 'chocolate frogs.'"  
  
"Why?" asked Harry.  
  
"You'll find out," said Hagrid winking. "Now, off ter Transfiguration with ya! Professor McGonagall won't be too please if yer late."  
  
We hurried to Transfiguration and slammed our things down on our desks just as the bell rang.  
Transfiguration, as it turned out, was just as difficult as I though it would be. We were supposed to turn a black top hat into a white rabbit, but all I managed to do was turn the hat white and make it hop around the desk. Harry and Ron were having no better luck; Ron gave his hat a cotton tail and long ears; Harry gave his fur. Hermione, of course, was the first (and only) person to change their hat completely.  
  
"How do you do it?" asked Ron as we headed for lunch.  
  
"She's not a prefect for nothing, you know," said Harry, laughing.  
  
After lunch, we headed down towards the dungeons for Potions.  
  
"Great," said Hermione sarcastically, "another class with the Slytherins."  
  
"And the ferret," I added. Ron laughed, but his laughter died away as we entered Snape's dungeon. We took our seats at the very back of the classroom, as far away from Malfoy and the Slytherins as possible.  
  
When the bell rang, Snape looked up from his desk. He looked around the class, his eyes stopping on Harry, full of loathing.  
  
"We'll be brewing a Binding Potion today," Snape said, not taking his eyes off of Harry. "Who can tell me the main ingredient?"  
  
Hermione's hand, automatically, it seemed, shot up. I paused for a moment, then raised my hand tentatively into the air. Snape's eyes flashed.  
"A new hand?" Snape said. "I'm impressed. All right, Ms. Destiny. The main ingredient is...?"  
  
"A colligo lapis?" I asked.  
  
"And a colligo lapis is...?"  
  
"A rare lapis found mostly in southern Africa, reddish-orange in color," I said, stunning myself on how much i sounded like Hermione.  
  
"Finally, someone other than Ms. Granger has decided to actually pick up their textbook," Snape said without a hint of emotion. "A point to Gryffindor."  
  
"Snape actually gave a point to Gryffindor?" asked Harry, shocked, as Snape wrote the directions for the Binding Potion on the blackboard. "There must be something wrong with him."  
  
After potions was over, Harry, Ron, Hermione and I headed back up to Gryffindor tower to drop our things off and get started on our homework.  
"They're evil," said Ron, flipping through his copy of Lapi Around the World, "giving us homework on the first day."  
  
"Our O.W.Ls are coming up this year, though," said Hermione.  
  
"But they're at the end of the year!" complained Ron. Hermione sighed and checked her watch.  
  
"Fine. If you don't want to do your homework, we might as well head down for dinner," she said. We rose from the table we were sitting at, left our papers there, and went down to eat.  
  
When we entered the Great Hall, I caught sight of Hagrid and remembered what he had said to Harry and me that morning.  
  
"Hermione, what time is it?" I asked.  
  
"6:30," she replied as we sat down.  
  
"We only have half an hour to eat then," I groaned.  
  
"Why?" Ron asked, puzzled. I explained about what Hagrid had said to us.  
  
"Who knows what he wants us for?" said Harry when I had finished. "Maybe he wants us to help him plan for the next class."  
  
"But in the headmaster's office?" Hermione asked skeptically.  
Harry and I ate hurriedly, and at five minutes to seven, set off for Dumbledore's office. Harry led the way to a stone gargoyle in one of the corridors and said, "Chocolate frogs."  
  
The statue jumped aside, revealing a moving staircase that very much resembled an escalator. We stepped onto it, and it brought us up to a large wooden door. Harry knocked on it, waited for a moment, then pushed it open.  
  
Golden chairs were placed around the perimeter of the circular office. Most of them were occupied by witches and wizards of varied ages, but there were four vacant chairs. Harry and I made our way to two of the chairs, very well aware of the stares we were getting.  
  
"What is this?" I whispered to Harry.  
  
"It looks like some sort of meeting," he whispered back.  
  
"For what?" Harry shook his head. I sighed and looked around at all of the faces. A woman with graying hair was chatting to a man next to her, glancing at Harry often and half-smiling. Dumbledore was sitting next to them, eyes closed, apparently deep in thought. Further along was Hagrid. He was talking to a giant of a woman with olive black hair and a creamy complexion. Then an empty chair, and my eyes fell on Snape. He was looking as sour as ever. Another empty chair, and I saw a boy of about our age sitting next to the door. He had dirty blonde hair, broad shoulders, and a nervous expression on his face. I couldn't see his eyes because he was looking down at his hands.  
  
Suddenly, the grandfather clock chimed seven times, and Dumbledore opened his eyes. He stood up and cleared his throat.  
  
"I'd like to thank you all for coming here on such short notice," he said, looking around at everyone. "I've called you here because matters are very urgent, and unfortunately, our own Minister of Magic still refuses to believe there is any reason to panic. But there is.  
  
"At the end of last term, as many of you may have heard, the unthinkable happened. Lord Voldemort-" here, some of the witches and wizards in the room flinched slightly "- has returned. He is gathering he supports back at a remarkable speed, and soon, the Dementors might be tempted to join him. Thankfully, the giants resisted. Hagrid and Madame Maxime managed to convince them to help us fight, instead of Voldemort." There was a short round of applause, then Dumbledore continued.  
"Voldemort is gaining power rapidly, too. This summer, he tried to get the item that would make him invincible. Fortunately, he did not succeed.  
  
"But matters are still urgent," Dumbledore persisted. "If we do not act now, Voldemort could become stronger than before. This is why I've called the first meeting of the Order tonight." 


	10. Tenth Chapter

A stunned silence filled the room, and then, slowly, the man who'd been talking to the old woman said, "We're starting the Order again, Albus?"  
  
"Yes, Mundugus," said Dumbledore gravely. "Matters are that urgent."  
  
"Order?" said Harry quietly. "What Order?"  
  
I was puzzled, too, until I caught sight of Fawkes sleeping on his perch. Then I understood. Harry, on the other hand, didn't. Dumbledore caught sight of his puzzled expression and said, "Ah, yes. Harry, Emerald, Luke-" he motioned to the boy next to the door "- you're here because we feel like you are trustworthy enough to be part of the Order. If you'll please come up here-"  
  
Harry and I rose up out of our seats, and so did Luke. With his head raised, I could see that he had clear hazel eyes.  
  
Dumbledore pulled open an old wooden casket on his desk and withdrew a dusty, rolled-up piece of parchment that glowed softly. He held it out in front of the three of us.  
"This is the Light," he said solemnly. "It is the most sacred item to wizards, aside from the Dark. It is so sacred that to swear by it means you are whole-heartedly dedicated to something. Now, each of you place a hand on it."  
  
As one, we placed our hands on the Scroll. A tingling sensation spread up my arm.  
  
"This is the oath that binds you to the Order," said Dumbledore. "Only recite it if your heart and soul are willing to risk everything for others. There is no obligation to say the oath."  
  
Not one of us lifted our hand.  
  
"Very well," said Dumbledore. "Now, repeat after me:  
  
"I swear by the Sacred Scroll, Light  
  
To never do wrong and defend what is right,  
  
To vanquish the dark,  
  
And to kindle Hope's spark  
  
I swear this by the Sacred Scroll, Light."  
  
We repeated this in unison, and when we were done, lifted our hands from the Scroll. Dumbledore looked at us with respect blazing in his eyes.  
  
"Emerald Destiny, Harry Potter, and Luke Wyte," he said proudly, "you are now members of the Order of the Phoenix."  
  
The people in the room applauded enthusiastically as we took our seats. Luke resumed looking down at his hands.  
After the meeting was over, at around 9:30, Harry and I headed towards Gryffindor tower. I spotted Luke sulking around the stone gargoyle, looking nervous and unsure of what to do.  
  
"Harry, I'm gonna stay behind for a bit," I said. "You go on, I'll catch up."  
  
"'K," yawned Harry; he turned the corner, and I went over to talk to Luke.  
  
"Um, hi," I said.  
  
"Hi," Luke said back. There was an uneasy silence that was broken when Dumbledore appeared from behind the gargoyle.  
  
"I see you've met Luke, Emerald," he said, sky blue eyes twinkling. "Fawkes took to him right away, even though he'd never met Luke, much like the way he took to you."  
  
"Er," I said. Was I supposed to be intrigued about this? Alarmed? Surprised? What!?!  
  
"So, of course, I invited Luke to come here tonight," continued Dumbledore randomly. "I was going to introduce you to each other, but you did that on your own."  
  
"Um," I said uncertainly. Where was this leading to?  
  
"Well, actually, we didn't say more than hi," Luke said shyly.  
  
"Ah. Then let me introduce you to Luke Wyte," said Dumbledore. "He was the grandson of a very close friend of mine. His family was very prestigious and well-known."  
  
"You keep saying 'was'," I said slowly. "Why?"  
Dumbledore paused for a moment, then said delicately, "Voldemort saw Luke's family as a threat to him. And we know how he deals with threats."  
  
"I wish I didn't," I said tearfully. Sniffing, I asked Luke, "How'd you get away?"  
  
"I wasn't at home when- when it happened," Luke said softly. "I was over at a friend's house. When I got home, I saw the Dark Mark over my house."  
  
"How awful!" I gasped. "When was it?"  
  
"Only a few nights ago," Dumbledore said. I started; I had completely forgotten he was there. "I was near the neighborhood when the attack happened, and I was one of the firs wizards on the scene. Fudge was there, also, but I regret to say that he regarded the whole thing as a hoax."  
  
"I bet he would watch a massacre happen and think it was all a prank," I said bitterly.  
  
"Let's hope it does not come to that," said Dumbledore, somewhat seriously.  
  
"Fudge can't go on denying it forever, can he?" asked Luke.  
  
"He could," said Dumbledore, "but that would be like looking a rabid bull in the eyes and saying it was perfectly harmless."  
"Extremely dangerous and stupid," said Luke. I nodded in agreement and yawned. A few seconds later, I heard a faint chiming from within the walls.  
  
"I think I've kept you two up far too long," said Dumbledore. "Emerald, you may head back up to Gryffindor tower. Luke, come with me. There's a spare bedchamber you can sleep in tonight."  
  
I turned around as Luke and Dumbledore disappeared through the stone gargoyle, wondering many things. For one, why wasn't Luke in a house yet? Had he been home schooled? And why did Voldemort see Luke's family as a threat? Was it because of what they were well-known for?  
  
I mulled over these things as I climbed through the portrait hole. Only a few people were in the common room; Harry, Ron, and Hermione weren't among them.  
  
When I passed the white box on my way to the dormitories, I paused. Snatching up a quill and spare bit of parchment, I scribbled, "Harry Potter" on the yellowing sheet and stuffed it into the box. Smiling a little, I proceeded up to my dormitory, changed into my p.j.'s, and lay down in bed.  
  
All too soon, I found myself surrounded by an endless stretch of golden mist. I bit my lip; the memory of last night's visit had just flooded back into my mind.  
"D.C?" I asked.  
  
"Hmmm?" came the relaxed reply.  
  
"When Lily said that she and James weren't dead, what did she mean?" I asked tentatively.  
  
"That they aren't dead," D.C. said.  
  
"But then where've they been for the past 14 years?" I asked, starting to pace.  
  
"In the Dream Crystal," came a crystal voices. I looked over my shoulder and saw Lily.  
  
"Why is it that apparitions always appear behind you?" I asked heavily. Lily shrugged.  
  
"I heard you talking about me," she said.  
  
"Yeah," I said. "I've got tons of questions about what you said last night."  
  
"I'll answer as many as I can," Lily said. "So, shoot."  
  
"Ok. First of all, how'd you escape Voldemort?" I asked.  
  
"We didn't," said Lily.  
  
"Then how can you not be dead?"  
  
"This little thing called the Dream Crystal Power," Lily said, eyes twinkling.  
"Oh yeah, I forgot, you had the Dream Crystal last," I said. "Harry said he saw you wearing it in a picture he had of you."  
  
"How is he?" asked Lily wistfully. "What's he like?"  
  
"He's wonderful," I sighed. "He's funny, energetic, understanding... I could go on forever. You really have a wonderful son."  
  
"I wish I could have watched him grow up," Lily said softly.  
  
"You said that you and James weren't dead, but you didn't escape Voldemort's attack," I said slowly, wondering if this would help form an idea in my mind. "So you used the Dream Crystal Power. But how would that help?"  
  
"The Dream Crystal Power can do just about anything," said Lily, startled at the sudden change of topic. "Time transport, dimension bouncing, you name it. I knew Voldemort was after James and me, so I started wondering if one could preserve one's self in the Dream Crystal. It turned out you could."  
  
"So the night of the attack, you used the Dream Crystal Power to do that," I said. "Does that mean someone could use the Dream Crystal Power to release you?"  
  
"Yes, but I don't want you to try," said Lily sternly. "I was almost killed when I used it, and I don't want you taking that chance."  
  
"But you'd be able to see Harry-"  
  
"No," said Lily firmly. Slowly, I nodded.  
  
"What should I tell Harry then?" I said bluntly.  
  
"Don't tell him at all," said Lily sadly. "He'll do better not knowing."  
"You're right," I said heavily. There was a moment of silence, then I decided to ask another question. "When James said that I'd change since you last saw me-" I stopped, trying to phrase it right. Before I could figure out how I wanted to say it, the golden mist started to fade.  
  
"See you in a few nights," Lily said. "I'm going to be busy for a while."  
  
I sighed; why did I always have to wait to find out the important things?  
  
The golden mist faded away to nothing, and I opened my eyes slowly.  
  
"Don't tell me I slept in again," I groaned, getting out of bed. Sure enough, the dorm was deserted. "Great, I'm turning into Sailor Moon. New- found magical powers and a huge responsibility on my shoulders, but I still can't get up in time for school."  
  
Yawning terribly, I yanked out my cloths, tossed them on and slung my bag over my shoulder before heading down for breakfast.  
  
"You have got to stop coming to breakfast so late!" Hermione scolded as I sat down and took a bagel.  
  
"Don't bug me right now," I mumbled, taking a bite. "I am not a morning person."  
  
"Well that's obvious," Harry said.  
I managed to get through the day without falling asleep once, but I came very close several times. Luckily, Harry was always there to nudge me awake if I looked like I was about to doze off.  
  
"What would I do without you?" I asked Harry as we headed for dinner.  
  
"Die of boredom?" Harry joked, poking me in the stomach. I laughed.  
  
"I've got no doubts about that."  
  
A week passed, and I still didn't hear from Lily. D.C. was refusing to tell me anything at all when I visited him at night.  
  
"It's not my place to tell you," was always the reply when I asked a question about my first encounter with Lily.  
  
"Well you're no help," I told D.C. grumpily.  
  
Meanwhile, I was still getting up rather late, but I wasn't tempted to dose off in class. Luke was no where to be seen, and Malfoy, of course, was still acting cold and heartless, as always. That changed, however, at the end of my second week of term.  
  
Harry, Ron, Hermione, and I were walking towards Gryffindor tower after dinner. Hermione and Ron were talking in whispers, which seemed to be all they did now. From time to time, Ron would whisper, smiling, something in Hermione's ear, and she would blush.  
  
"Are you two hiding something from us?" I asked. "Like, if a certain red-head asked a certain brunette out?"  
  
At that moment, Malfoy and his cronies rounded the corner ahead of us.  
  
"Did I hear right?" Malfoy drawled. "Have the weasel and the Mudblood gotten together? And I thought you could sink no lower, Weasley."  
I felt the heat rise in my face, and I opened my mouth to tell him off. Hermione, however, took control of the situation.  
  
"Ten points from Slytherin, Malfoy," she said icily.  
  
"You can't do that," said Malfoy, taken aback.  
  
"I can't?" said Hermione, unpinning her Prefect badge. Malfoy paled.  
  
"Don't mess with us, Malfoy," I snapped. "Now, be a good little ferret and bounce away."  
  
Malfoy opened his mouth, but Hermione said, "Another ten points if you say anything."  
  
He cast us a loathing look and walked past us, his two thugs trailing him as always.  
  
"Go Hermione!" I said when Malfoy had turned the corner. She smiled shyly and resumed talking to Ron in whispers.  
  
We spent the weekend lying around, playing chess, and thinking of ways to make Malfoy look like more of an idiot then he already was. Some of the ideas were a little far-fetched.  
"Honestly, Ron!" I laughed. "However fun it would be to watch Malfoy go around imitating a baboon, I highly doubt you you enjoy watching it from Azkaban."  
  
"It'd be worth it," he laughed.  
  
"You don't even know how to use the Imperious Curse, anyway," commented Harry.  
  
"I'd find out," Ron said. I rolled my eyes, and in doing so caught sight of Ginny. She was sitting alone in a chair, staring off into space. Her eyes looked wet and red, like she had been crying. When she saw me looking at her, she turned away so I couldn't see her face. Guilt hit me like a sledgehammer in my stomach. I shook the feeling off and forced myself to rejoin the conversation.  
  
On Monday morning, I woke up at 6:30, dressed, and emerged into the common room to find a crowd of students gathered around the bulletin board.  
"What's all this about?" I asked a first year at the back of the crowd.  
  
"They've posted the results of the Quidditch captain vote!" he said.  
  
"Do you know who it is?" I asked excitedly.  
  
"That's what I'm trying to find out!" he snapped, annoyed. I rolled my eyes and shoved my way through the mosh-like crowd. Soon, after several, "Hey, that's my foot!"s, I found myself standing right in front of the bulletin board. A white piece of paper was titled, "Quidditch Captain Vote Results." Underneath, a name was written in gold; "Harry Potter."  
  
I smiled broadly. This would make Harry go as berserk as when I had first told him about the Harry Potter books.  
  
"Is this supposed to be a joke?" Harry exclaimed when I told him.  
  
"No, it was right there on that little sheet of paper," I insisted. "You're the new Quidditch captain!" All through the day, Gryffindors we knew, and some we didn't, congratulated Harry on becoming Quidditch captain.  
  
"When are you going to hold team try-outs?" Ron asked excitedly.  
  
"This weekend, I guess," said Harry, shrugging. "You're gonna try out for the Keeper position, right?"  
  
"Maybe," said Ron. "What about you guys?"  
  
"I might try out as a reserve Chaser," said Hermione thoughtfully.  
  
"Emerald?"  
  
"I don't know," I said, shrugging. "I don't think I'd be any good on the team."  
  
"You should try out for the reserve Seeker position," said Harry suddenly.  
  
"Not me!" I said, shocked. "Definitely not me!"  
  
"Yes you," insisted Harry. "You were great over the summer."  
  
"I fell flat on my face most of the time!" I argued.  
  
"No, you didn't," Harry persisted. "Just try out."  
  
"No."  
  
"Yes."  
  
"No."  
  
"Yes!"  
  
"Alright," I sighed, "I give in."  
  
"Yes! Oh, you give in?" Harry said. I pushed him into the wall playfully; his face exploded into mock-rage. "How dare you! Push the Gryffindor Quidditch captain into the wall, will you?"  
  
I started to laugh. Harry, smiling, said evilly, "I know where your weak spot is."  
  
"You wouldn't," I gasped, mockingly stunned.  
  
"Yes, I would," Harry said.  
I turned on my heel and started running through the empty corridor, Harry right behind me. I rounded the corner, looking behind my shoulder at Harry, and collided with another person. 


	11. Eleventh Chapter

"Ow! Ohmigosh, I'm sorry!" I exclaimed, holding my head where I had hit it. "Are you alright?"  
  
"Yeah," said the boy. For some reason, he looked really familiar. "A little sore, but I'm fine."  
  
"Honestly, Emerald," said a voice teasingly. I turned and saw Harry, arms crossed, and a grin on his face.  
  
"Stuff it, Harry," I shot back, sticking out my tongue. Standing up, I helped whoever it was I had hit pick up his books.  
  
"Thanks," he said. Suddenly, as his clear hazel eyes met mine, I knew who he was.  
  
"Luke?" I said. He paused and surveyed me.  
  
"Do I know you?" he asked suspiciously.  
  
"Yeah, it's me, Emerald," I said. "You know, Emerald Destiny?"  
  
"Oh, yeah," Luke said, his expression clearing. "I guess I've just been so busy I forgot I knew you."  
  
"That's ok," I said, looking back at Harry. He was leaning on the stone wall, talking to Ron and Hermione. I "ahem"ed loudly. They looked up at me.  
  
"What?" Ron asked innocently. "We were just waiting for you to introduce us."  
  
"Oh, yeah, huh," I said sheepishly. "This is Luke Wyte. Harry and I met him a couple weeks ago in Dumbledore's office. Luke, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger."  
  
"Hi," Luke said. Hermione eyed him warily.  
  
"I haven't seen you before," she said matter-of-factly. "Are you another transfer student?"  
"Hermione," I said through gritted teethe, knowing where this would lead to.  
  
"In- a way," said Luke.  
  
"Oh," said Hermione. "What school did you transfer from?"  
  
"I was home-schooled." Luke's voice was getting uncomfortable.  
  
"What made your parents--"  
  
"Ok, enough questions for today," I interrupted. Luke shot me a grateful glance. "Let's head down to dinner, shall we?"  
  
"Ok," said Hermione slowly. The five of us walked towards the Great Hall, and uncomfortable silence hanging over us like a blanket. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and I headed for the Gryffindor table while Luke headed towards the Ravenclaw table. I watched him sit down next to a very pretty Asian girl and put his arm around her.  
  
"Cho's found a new boyfriend," I whispered to myself. Resolving to keep this to myself, I loaded my plate with creamy mashed potatoes, saucy pot roast, and a few honey-roasted peanuts. After all, I thought, chewing slowly, Harry hasn't mentioned her yet, so I won't, either. "Emerald," said Hermione, "why wouldn't you let me ask Luke any more questions?" "Because," I said. "Because. well, those questions were leading to a touchy subject with Luke." "Which is." prompted Harry. "It's not my place to tell you," I said. As Soon as the words were out of my mouth, I knew why D.C. wouldn't answer any of my questions.  
"You sound like a parent," muttered Ron.  
  
"I heard that, young man," I said sternly, trying not to laugh. "No dessert for you."  
  
"But Mum," whined Ron, playing along. I whapped him lightly on the head and continued eating.  
  
That night when I visited D.C, I apologized for the way I'd been acting.  
  
"It's alright," D.C. assured me.  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Really." I was quiet for a moment, then realized something.  
  
"D.C, will I ever get to see you in human form?" I asked.  
  
"Maybe," was the answer.  
  
"Let me guess; when I'm ready," I said, rolling my eyes.  
  
"That's what he told me." I looked behind me and saw Lily materialize.  
  
"You're back! It's been forever," I said.  
  
"I got... delayed," she said. "But now I'm here, and you can ask your questions."  
  
"Ok," I said. "You know how James said I'd changed sine you last saw me?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Does that mean you knew me as a baby?"  
  
"Yes, it does... for him. I knew you before you were born," said Lily slowly.  
  
"Huh?"  
"Well, you know I had the Dream Crystal last, right? When I was in my seventh year, I started to have dreams including you."  
  
"Me?"  
  
"Yes. You were wearing the Dream Crystal, and that's why I decided to leave it to you when you were born, instead of Harry."  
  
"What do you mean, 'leave it' to me?"  
  
"There are only two ways to get the Dream Crystal. The first one is to decide to leave it to someone. You can't change your mind unless the person you leave it to dies before you. The second is to find out who the current owner is leaving the Dream Crystal to, kill that person, then kill the current owner of the Dream Crystal before they leave it to someone else." Here, Lily's voice softened, and her gaze became unfocused.  
  
"Wow," I whispered, fingering the Dream Crystal. Then an idea hit me. "Did Voldemort know you had the Dream Crystal?"  
  
"Yes," whispered Lily. "When Harry was born, he assumed I would leave it to him. Voldemort knew that the power of the Dream Crystal combined with the power of Gryffindor that already flowed in Harry's veins would be unstoppable."  
  
"So that's why he wanted to kill Harry," I murmured. Suddenly I felt a cold wind from somewhere, and my eyes snapped open.  
Peeves was floating next to my bed, blowing on my ear.  
  
"PEEVES!" I whisper-yelled, not wanting to wake up the rest of my dormitory. He cackled and bobbed through the wall.  
  
Sighing, I looked at my watch; 5:13. With a jolt, I realized Quidditch try-outs were at six; it had been Ron's idea to hold them so early. He was convinced that anyone who wanted badly to be on the team would show up.  
  
Next to me, Hermione yawned, grumbled something about transfiguring a frog, and rolled over. I walked over to her and shook her lightly. She opened her eyes very slowly.  
  
"Wha' is it?" she asked groggily.  
  
"Quidditch try-outs in forty-five," I said, moving away to get dressed. Hermione rolled out of bed.  
  
"I bet Ron or Harry aren't up yet," she said, rubbing her eyes.  
  
"Then let's go wake them up," I said, grinning. Hermione grinned back.  
  
After we got dressed, we snuck up to the fifth year boys dorm and opened the door a crack. No one was up yet.  
  
"You take Ron, and I'll take Harry," I whispered. Hermione nodded, and we crept into the dorm. Silently, we opened the hangings on Ron's and Harry's four-posters.  
"One," whispered Hermione, "two, three!"  
  
We jumped onto the beds and began to bounce around, jolting Ron and Harry awake. I had to clamp a hand over Harry's mouth to keep him from yelling and waking the whole tower.  
  
"Rise and shine, cap'n," I said. "Try-outs are in forty."  
  
Before they could say anything, Hermione and I slipped out of their dorm and back down to the common room, giggling.  
  
Soon, Harry and Ron joined us, Harry grumbling about being up so early. Ron, though dreary eyed, looked more awake than any of us.  
  
"Ron, if I weren't so tired right now, I'd kill you," I said, yawning.  
  
"I'm just lucky, I guess," said Ron.  
  
"Oh, you," sighed Hermione.  
  
"Let's just go down before I fall asleep on the armchair," mumbled Harry.  
  
"Alright," I sighed. We made our way down the lightening corridors and out onto the deserted grounds. The grass sparkled with early morning dew, and the sun had just barely risen over the horizon. For a brief moment, I was reminded of the sunset I watched with Harry on Privet Drive. Then, Harry shoved me lightly, shaking me out of my thoughts.  
  
"Race you to the Quidditch field," he said.  
  
"You sure?" I said, shoving him back. "I was one of the fastest track members at my old school."  
  
"Three words: eat my dust!" said Harry, taking off. I ran after him, the dew-ridden grass crunching crisply under my feet. Soon, I caught up with Harry.  
"See you at the Quidditch field," I said, running ahead of Harry.  
  
"Hey, no fair!" yelled Harry. "You're not supposed to catch up!"  
  
"Then run faster!" I laughed.  
  
"Or," panted Harry, "I could just do this."  
  
He grabbed a stand of my hair and pulled. I fell back, holding the spot where it hurt.  
  
"Ow!" I complained, punching Harry. He grabbed my arm, and we both fell over, Harry landing on top of me.  
  
"This feels familiar," said Harry.  
  
"Oh, God," I said, rolling my eyes. "You know, if I were an anime character, I'd have a humongous sweatdrop right about now."  
  
Someone coughed loudly nearby. I looked around and saw Ron and Hermione standing a few yards away, arms crossed, and amused expression on their faces.  
  
"Are you lovers too busy to go to the Quidditch try-outs?" teased Ron. Going a furious shade of red, Harry stood and helped me up.  
  
"Just you wait," said Harry softly to Ron as we passed him. "I'll find you and Hermione doing something you shouldn't be, and then we'll see who's 'busy'."  
Ron shoved Harry, and we continued towards the Quidditch field. When we arrived, there was a small amount of Gryffindors wandering around. As soon as they say Harry, they ran over and grouped around us. Most of them were yawning terribly and swaying on their feet, about to fall asleep. I nudged Harry.  
  
"Hurry up before they collapse," I whispered. Harry nodded and cleared his throat.  
  
"Well... er... thanks for coming. I know it's early, so we'll go as quickly as possible," he said. "Er... we'll start with the Keeper. If you're trying out for that position, go get a broom from the broom shed and come back here."  
  
A few Gryffindors, including Ron, left the circle, returning shortly with battered old school brooms.  
  
"Ok," said Harry. "So... who'd like to go first?"  
  
Everyone holding a broom raised their hand slightly. I bit my lip to keep myself from laughing.  
  
"Do we form a line?" yawned a short fourth year.  
  
"No," said Harry. "Does anyone have a quill and a piece of parchment?"  
  
Hermione produced a worn quill from her pocket, and I gave Harry a wrinkled piece of parchment. He scribbled something on the parchment, then tore the top part off and into five little pieces.  
  
"Draw," he said, holding the hand with the pieces of parchment in it above everyone's head. Everyone drew their numbers; Ron got third.  
The first person to try out for the Keeper position was the short fourth year who had asked if they would have to form a line. He was a fairly good Keeper; three of the seven attempts to "score" got past him.  
  
"That was good," said Harry. "What's your name?"  
  
"Terrence Walker," said the fourth year. Harry jotted his name down on the parchment and his number of blocks out of seven.  
  
"Okay," said Harry. "Who's next?"  
  
The next person to try out was a tall sixth year. She only blocked three of the seven attempts. Harry wrote her name down (Lisa Hardy) and her number of blocks. Then it was Ron's turn.  
  
Ron was wonderful. Only one shot made it past him, and that was only because Ron had caught the previous shot in his stomach. He had still been holding his gut when the next shot was fired.  
  
It got worse from there. The fourth person to try out blocked only one, and the last didn't block any at all.  
  
"Ok, thanks for trying out," said Harry. "The results will be posted tomorrow morning on the common room bulletin. If you'd like, you can go back to the castle or stick around and watch the rest of the try-outs."  
  
Only Ron stayed.  
The progress of the try-outs was very slow. After the Keeper try-outs were the replacement Beater try-outs. The two who were the best were Andreia Taylor and Zack Hunter.  
  
Hermione did wonderfully in the replacement Chaser try-outs. She, Nicole Woodard, and Scarlett Appleby were obviously the best out of all ten that tried out.  
  
By the time the replacement Seeker try-outs started, the sun had risen fairly high into the sky, and only Harry, Ron, Hermione, and the people trying out for the last position remained. I was extremely nervous by now, chewing on my nails and bouncing up and down on my feet. All we had to do was dodge the apples thrown at us and catch the gold ball, but I was still jittery. I had no idea why; I hadn't even wanted to try out.  
  
Harry held up his hand with the numbers in them. I drew number six; last.  
  
"Just my luck," I mumbled.  
  
I didn't really pay attention to the first five people; I was too absorbed in my own thoughts. What if I make a fool of myself? Harry's gonna DIE if I do; he's the one who convinced me to try out in the first place. Oh, God, it's my turn!  
Breathing a little faster than normal, I mounted my broom when Harry told me to. Then, I kicked off into the air and was instantly attacked by apples. Swatting them away with my right hand, I looked around the mass of red and green for a flash of white. I saw it high above the apples, rising, rising, then falling. I dove after it, ignoring the small sting of pain whenever an apple hit me. The golf ball was going to reach the ground before I did; the broom was too slow. Pressing myself as flat as I could against the broom handle, I reached my hand out, and... I caught iy. I was so amazed at myself that I didn't notice the ground creeping up on me, and I crashed, head first, into it.  
  
"Are you okay?" asked Harry, kneeling beside me. Blinking furiously to get the dizziness to subside, I raised myself to a sitting position.  
  
"I'm fine," I mumbled, holding my head. "Looks like you're not the only one with a tendency for injuries."  
  
Ron, Hermione, and Harry laughed. Everyone else had already gone back inside the castle.  
  
"Let's go," said Harry, putting an arm around my waist and helping me up. "I need some breakfast."  
  
"We all do," yawned Hermione. We made our way into the Great Hall and sat down at the Gryffindor table, piling our plates with eggs, pancakes, bacon, scones, and other wonderful Hogwarts food.  
"Tell me again, when are you posting the results?" asked Ron, biting into a pancake.  
  
"Tomorrow morning," said Harry. "And don't try to get me to tell you who made it."  
  
Ron tried to push his tongue through his mouthful of syrup and pancake, but all he winded up doing was showing us the mashed up mess on his tongue.  
  
"Eww," said Hermione, covering her eyes. "That's disgusting, Ron."  
  
We spent the rest of that Saturday in the common room, sprawled on the comfortable sofas and armchairs, playing wizard's chess or Exploding Snap. It wasn't until three in the afternoon that I remembered the Runes essay that had been assigned on Friday. Groaning, I rose from my seat and went to the dorm, returning with my Runes book, parchment, quills, and an ink bottle. Hermione spotted me, gasped, and ran up the stairs, coming down with the same supplies.  
  
"I can't believe I forgot about the essay!" she exclaimed, dumping her stuff on the table next to mine. "What with the Quidditch try-outs so early..."  
  
"Hmm," I said, trying to figure out how I was going to write two feet on how to translate modern English into Ancient Gremlin. For the rest of the afternoon, Hermione and I worked on our essays while Harry and Ron lased around nearby.  
  
"Don't you have any Divination homework?" asked Hermione.  
  
"Already done," said Ron. Hermione grumbled something about making up the answers and continued working on her essay.  
  
Finally, ten minutes before we went down for dinner, we finished. I had managed to get two feet with medium-sized handwriting, but Hermione had two and a half feet with extremely small handwriting.  
"How do you do it?" I marveled, sweeping all my stuff into my arms. Hermione shrugged and followed me up the stairs into our dorm. I dumped everything into my trunk and was about to head down when I saw a scarlet envelope on my pillow. Curiously, I slit it open and red the letter inside, eyes widening as I did so.  
  
Dear Ms. Destiny~  
  
There will be an emergency meeting tonight of the Order. Please come to my office as soon as you finish eating dinner.  
  
Sincerely,  
  
Professor Dumbledore  
  
I ran down the stairs with the letter clamped in my hand and met Harry, who was at the bottom of the staircase.  
  
"Did you-"  
  
"Yeah," he said, holding up the same letter. "What do you suppose could have gone wrong?"  
  
"You don't think the Dementors joined him, do you?" I asked frantically as we headed down for dinner.  
  
"I don't know, but let's hurry and eat," said Harry. I nodded, and we almost ran to the Gryffindor table. We filled our plates quickly and began to inhale the food.  
  
"What is it?" asked Hermione.  
  
"We have to be somewhere," I said lamely, taking one last drink of pumpkin juice. "You done, Harry?"  
  
"Yeah, let's go." We stood up and walked as quickly as possible towards the entrance to the Great Hall, where we were joined by Luke.  
  
"Any idea of what's happened?" he asked as we made our way towards Dumbledore's office.  
  
"No," I said. When we arrived in front of the stone gargoyle, Harry gave the password, and we stepped onto the moving staircase. It seemed to take forever to get to the top. Harry hesitated a bit, then knocked on the big oaken doors and pushed them open. 


	12. Twelvth Chapter

Dumbledore was pacing behind his desk, and his head snapped up when we entered.  
  
"Good, you're here," he said; his voice sounded stressed. "Please; take a seat."  
  
Harry, Luke, and I took the three seats next to the door. Looking around, I noticed that the two empty chairs had been filled; one by Sirius, who was in his animagus form, and the other by a strange man I had never seen. He had light brown hair flecked with gray, even though he didn't look older than thirty, and sparkling gray-blue eyes. For some reason, he looked really familiar.  
  
"I didn't know Lupin was part of the Order," said Harry.  
  
"Lupin? Remus Lupin?" I asked.  
  
"Yeah," said Harry. "Who else would it be?"  
  
I shook my head as Dumbledore stopped pacing. He looked around the room, and instantly, all noise stopped.  
  
"Thank you all for coming on such a short notice," he said. "Sirius, you may take your original form."  
  
The dog nodded and slowly transformed into a man. Several gasps were issued throughout the room; Snape was glaring at him.  
  
"Before anyone says anything, let me explain," said Dumbledore calmly. "Sirius is innocent. The one who should've been in his place at Azkaban is Peter Petigrew.  
  
"Now, some of you must be wondering why I have called an emergency meeting. The reason is this; Voldemort has managed to perswuade a fair number of vampires to join him."  
  
"Vampires?" I said. Lupin looked up at me, and our eyes met. His eyes traveled down to the Dream Crystal; his mouth dropped a bit, but he caught himself and shut it. I looked away, and Dumbledore continued.  
  
"Yes. Thankfully, not the entire vampire race joined him. Those who didn't, however, remain neutral," he said, starting to pace again. "Now, it is only a matter of time before the Dementors join him."  
"What can we do?" asked Sirius, a slight growl in his voice.  
  
"Everything we can do," sighed Dumbledore. "We have the giants on our side, which gives us an advantage over the vampires. Someone will have to convince Fudge to remove the Dementors from Azkaban."  
  
"I'll do that," said the old woman who had been talking to Mundugus before the first Order meeting.  
  
"Thank you, Arabella," said Dumbledore, smiling slightly. Harry did a sort of double-take; the woman caught his eye and winked.  
  
"That's Mrs. Figg," he whispered to me.  
  
"I would never have guessed," I retorted softly. He glared at me, but couldn't say anything because Dumbledore started to speak again.  
  
"Thank you all again for coming last minute," he said. "Now, you may leave. I expect you all want to go home and sleep, seeing how late it is."  
  
Everyone got up and stretched, then slowly filtered out of Dumbledore's office. I was barely out of the gargoyle when I felt a hand on my shoulder. Turning, I found Lupin behind me.  
  
"Hello," I said, slightly surprised.  
  
"Hi," he said, a little shakily. "I was wondering- could we talk?"  
  
"Sure," I said slowly as we moved towards a less crowded end of the corridor. "What about?"  
  
"Well... um," Lupin stuttered, his eyes avoiding mine. Then I realized something; they looked exactly like my eyes!  
  
"Does this have anything to do with Sirius?" I asked, ignoring that face. Lots of people have eyes like mine, I told myself.  
  
"Sirius? No," said Lupin. "It's just that I, um, I-"  
  
"What?" I asked. "Do I looked familiar or something?"  
  
"Yes," breathed Lupin. "I had a daughter who had eyes just like yours. And... I necklace like the one you're wearing. Well, she didn't have it yet. She was-"  
  
"Going to inherit it from Lily Potter?" I finished for him.  
  
Lupin nodded, far from startled. His eyes met mine, staring at me almost pleadingly.  
  
"You think I'm your daughter, don't you?" I whispered. He nodded again, and I was silent for a moment. Slowly, the pieces of the puzzle began to fit together; Lily and James had both known him; the Sorting Hat had said we both were brave, creative, and had a knack for coming up with pranks, which I knew were some of Lupin's qualities; and then the last clue, the important clue, the one that proved it genetically; our eyes. And our hair. I realized that, though flecked with grey, he had the same shade of hair I did.  
  
The whole time I had been putting the puzzle together in my mind, Lupin watched me. His eyes had become overly bright and moist, and a small smile was glued on his face. I closed my eyes, fighting back tears of my own, and then I nodded. First slowly, then furiously, no longer holding back the tears. Lupin--my dad--my dad! -- swept me up in a firm yet comforting hug, resting his head on mine. Suddenly, I wasn't a 15-year-old anymore; I was a toddler, clinging to her father for dear life.  
  
"Don't cry," he said soothingly. "If anyone should be crying, it should be me. I thought I'd never see you again."  
  
"Will you tell me?" I asked through my tears. "Will you tell me what happened that night?"  
  
Before Lupin could answer, a loud cough shattered the sentimentality of the moment. I looked over Lupin's shoulder and saw Harry and Sirius. Harry was giving me a "What the hell?" look, and Sirius merely stood there, a shocked expression on his face. I wiped my tears away, broke out of Lupin's hold, and walked over to Harry.  
"Hi," I said lamely. Harry just kept on staring at me; I shrugged. "What can I say? Family reunions get very emotional."  
  
Harry's jaw dropped even further. "He-- and you? Related?"  
  
"You have a lot of explaining to do, Moony," said Sirius, snapping out of his "trance."  
  
"I suppose I do," sighed Lupin. "But could we go some place quieter, like a classroom or something?"  
  
"There's one somewhere around here," Harry murmured.  
  
"Then let's go find it," I said. Walking over to Lupin, I put an arm around his waist and looked up at him. "C'mon, Dad."  
  
The effect of that simple phrase was more than I expected.  
  
"He's your-- you're his--" Harry kept saying, looking at me, than at Lupin, then back to me.  
  
"You said you were related, but not this closely," said Sirius, trying not to laugh. "Since when--"  
  
"I'll explain when we find that classroom," said Lupin, going a very faint shade of pink.  
  
"In other words, shut up," I translated. "Both of you."  
  
"Yes, ma'am," they said in unison.  
  
"That's better," said Lupin. In complete and utter silence, Lupin, Sirius, Harry, and I made our way down the corridor, entering the first classroom we came to.  
  
As if this triggered an invisible switch, Harry and Sirius started to bombard Lupin with questions.  
  
"How come you never told us?"  
  
"Why was Emerald crying?"  
  
"Where has she been for the past fifteen years?"  
  
"Did I say you could talk?" I snapped, sitting on a desk facing Harry.  
  
"No," said Harry sheepishly.  
"I've told you; I'll explain it all," sighed Lupin.  
  
"Then start explaining," said Sirius.  
  
"All right," Lupin said, massaging his temples. "Well... I don't really know how to explain it."  
  
"Start off by telling us when Emerald was born," prompted Sirius. "Because I never even knew you had a daughter."  
  
"We didn't tell anyone except Lily and James," Lupin said quietly. "That was because of the Light."  
  
"The Light?" said Harry. "The thing we said the Order oath on?"  
  
"Yes," I said. "Now, be quiet so he can finish. I'm rather eager to hear about my past."  
  
"Thank you," said Lupin. "Um... well, Lily and James visited us a lot; Lily especially. She loved Emerald as much as we did. Just a few days before Harry was born, Lily came over and told us she would be leaving the necklace she always wore to Emerald. By then, we knew it was the Dream Crystal, and we were puzzled why she had decided to leave it to Emerald instead of her own baby. When I asked her about it, she shrugged and said she had her reasons.  
  
"Then Harry was born, and Lily and James couldn't have been happier. They would bring Harry over for hours at a time, and we would talk while he and Emerald played. We had no clue that everything would be torn apart the next Halloween.  
  
"I was out at Diagon Alley getting some books when it happened. When I got home and saw our house in runes, and the Dark Mark hovering over the rubble, I dropped everything and ran inside. There was absolute chaos in every room; lamps had been shattered, the furniture was upended, and torn pages from book were scattered everywhere... I almost lost my mind. Then I heard crying from Emerald's room, and a flare of energy, of something, rose up inside me, and I ran towards her room.  
  
"It was as bad as the rest of the house; the clothes had been torn from the closet, the nightstand had been smashed into toothpicks, and Emerald's crib was on its side. The crying was coming from it; Emerald was still inside, the blankets piling up on her. I picked her up and cradled her in my arms, thankful that she was still alive. Then I left."  
"What about my... my mother?" I asked shakily.  
  
"I found her body laying next to the crib," Lupin said softly. "That's why I left."  
  
"Then what happened?" said Harry.  
  
"Dumbledore showed up," answered Lupin. "It's like he knew Voldemort had attacked."  
  
"So how'd I end up in a different dimension?" I asked.  
  
"It was Dumbledore's idea," replied Lupin. "I told him that Lily had decided to leave the Dream Crystal to you, and he said that once Voldemort found out, he was sure to come after you again. It took a lot of persuasion, but I finally gave in."  
  
"What took a lot of persuasion?" I pressed.  
  
"He told me that the safest way to protect you from Voldemort would be to find you guardians in another dimension until the Dream Crystal found it's way to you," said Lupin, wringing his hands. "Then, your powers would return to you, and you'd be able to come back here."  
  
"Moony," said Sirius suddenly, "exactly what did the Light say about Emerald?"  
  
"It said that a baby girl would be born to a werewolf on the full moon," said Lupin, "and... something about her aiding the heir of Gryffindor in battles against the heir of Slytherin."  
  
"Who's the heir of Gryffindor?" asked Harry. I nearly fell on the floor laughing.  
  
"What's so funny?" asked Sirius.  
  
"It's ironic," I said, giggling, "so hysterically ironic. Harry, you're the heir of Gryffindor."  
"No way," he said. "You're joking."  
  
"Do I look like I'm joking?" I said. "Just add up the clues; you were born July 31, which makes you a Leo. The Gryffindor mascot is a lion. When you found your wand, it shot out red and gold sparks; the Gryffindor colors are red and gold. You pulled his sword out of the Sorting Hat when fighting Voldemort's memory in your second year. Your parents lived in Godric's Hollow. Isn't that enough proof for you?"  
  
"Yeah," said Harry. "I guess I never really thought about it before."  
  
"Oh?" I said, raising my eyebrows.  
  
"Three words; don't fall asleep," retorted Harry, poking me in the stomach.  
  
"Likewise," I shot back, grinning.  
  
"Don't they remind you of someone?" asked Sirius.  
  
"Yeah; Lily and James," replied Lupin, smiling. I smiled too, then yawned.  
  
"What time is it?" I asked, stiffling another yawn.  
  
"I think it's about 11," said Sirius. "You two should go to bed."  
  
"Mhm," I said, standing up. "C'mon, Harry."  
  
He stood up, also. "G'night."  
  
"Night, Sirius. Night... Dad," I said. I hesitated, then gave both of them a hug and ran out the door after Harry.  
  
"Night, you two," said Lupin, smiling.  
"Well," said Harry when we entered the common room, "tonight was full of surprises."  
  
"Yep," I agreed. "I hope there won't be any more tonight."  
  
"You never know," Harry said, grinning mischievously.  
  
"Don't you dare," I warned.  
  
"Wouldn't I?" asked Harry.  
  
"I guess," I said thoughtfully, "and so would I."  
  
"Looks like neither of us are going to get much sleep tonight," sighed Harry.  
  
"Nope," I agreed. "Sweet dreams."  
  
"You, too," replied Harry, smirking. Yawning, I climbed the stairs to the girls' dormitory and heard Harry slide into the boys'.  
  
My head had barely hit the pillow when the golden mist surrounded me. An no sooner had the golden mist surrounded me than someone slammed into me, squeezing all the air from my lungs in a tight hug.  
  
"Lily," I choked, "why are you trying to suffocate me?"  
  
"Sorry," she said, releasing her grip on me. "I heard the conversation. I guess all your question's have been answered."  
  
"Not all of them," I said. "Is 'Emerald Chalcedona Destiny' my real name? And is May 17th my real birthday?"  
  
"No, and no," answered Lily. "Your real birthday is July 12th, and your real name is Emerald Titania Lupin."  
  
"Emerald Titania Lupin," I echoed. "I like it better than my old name."  
  
"I do, too," agreed Lily, smiling broadly.  
  
"Lily," I said, "do you know why Voldemort only blocked my powers?"  
  
"Honestly? I have no idea at all," she said. "Some force might have held him back from killing you, but that's just a guess."  
  
"One more question," I said. "What was my mother's name?"  
  
"Kati," replied Lily, smiling fondly at the memory.  
  
"My best friend in kindergarten was named Kati," I stated. "I miss her."  
  
"I miss my Kati, too," Lily said softly. We were silent for a moment, lost in our daydreams. Then I remembered that I had to pull a prank on Harry.  
  
"I gotta go," I told Lily. "Harry warned me not to fall asleep, so I have a feeling he's gonna try to pull a prank on me."  
  
Lily smiled mischievously. "Better get to him first."  
  
"That's what I was planning to do," I giggled. "C'ya tomorrow night."  
  
"Bye!" Lily's voice echoed in my mind as I opened my eyes. 


	13. Thirteenth Chapter

For a minute, I wondered what I should do. Then, an idea came to mind. Grinning, I pulled out my English-Latin dictionary and flipped through it.  
  
"Let's see," I whispered, pulling out my wand and a small bit of parchment. "Tingo... tingo vario? No... tingo novo. Yeah, that sounds better."  
  
I held the bit of parchment out in front of me, pointed my wand at itm and said, "Tingo novo!"  
  
A flash of color erupted from my wand, and the parchment started to change colors. My grin widening, I stashed the parchment away and crept into Harry's dormitory. As silently as I could, I opened his hangings. I tried not to laugh as I pointed my wand at his hair.  
  
"Tingo novo!" I whispered. Another flash of light erupted from my wand, and when it faded, I saw that my prank had worked; Harry's hair was changing colors every three seconds. Suppressing fits of giggles, I rushed out of his dorm and back into mine. I rocked on my bed for a few moments, trying to calm down so I could fall asleep again, but I realized I wasn't the least bit tired. Rummaging through my trunk once more, I pulled out an old copy of Wild Magic by Tamora Pierce and ambled back down into the common room.  
  
I sprawled myself onto one of the armchairs so that my feet hung over one of the arms and my back rested against the other. Then I opened the book and tumbled into a world of knights, mages, strange immortal creatures, and a girl who could talk to animals.  
As I read, the common room slowly turned from a dingy grey to a light pink, then from a light pink to a warm orange. I was nearing the end of the book when a few early birds came down and flopped onto chairs near the fire, talking quietly. When I finished, I placed the book on my lap and closed my eyes, waiting.  
  
I didn't have to wait long. A yell came from the boys' dormitory, causing most, if not all the heads in the common room to turn towards the staircase. Harry came bounding down it and, ignoring the stares a suppressed giggles filling the common room, grabbed me by the shoulders, yanking me out of my seat.  
  
"Aw, now what'd you do that for?" I whined, pouting. "I was comfortable."  
  
"Look at my hair," he hissed. I giggled.  
  
"What did you do?" I asked.  
  
"What did I do?" said Harry exasperatedly. "I didn't do anything."  
  
"Then what happened?" I said, trying to push down the fit of giggles threatening to erupt.  
  
"You tell me," he growled. "One's hair doesn't just decide to start flashing different colors over night!"  
  
"It wasn't me," I said, putting on my best innocent face.  
  
"Oh?" said Harry, arching an eyebrow. He pulled out my practice parchment. "Then what was this doing in your trunk?"  
  
"What were you doing in our dormitory?" I shot back.  
  
"Answer my question first," retorted Harry, paper and hair flashing simultaneously.  
  
"What question?" I asked innocently.  
  
"Just answer it."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Because it's polite."  
  
"What's polite?"  
  
"Answering my question."  
  
"Which question?"  
"Argh!" exclaimed Harry.  
  
"Are you a pirate? I thought you were a wizard," I said, frowning.  
  
"You're strange," muttered Harry, collapsing onto the armchair.  
  
"'Course I am," I replied, sitting on his lap. "I like you, don't I?"  
  
"You're going to regret saying that," said Harry, a mischievous spark in his eye.  
  
"Really?" I said, examining my finger nails.  
  
"Really really," replied Harry. He grabbed my wrist and dragged me up to the boys' dormitory.  
  
"Ooh, I'm so scared," I said sarcastically. "The boys' dormitory."  
  
"You're forgetting I know where you're most ticklish," Harry reminded me. "I didn't want to make a scene in the common room; everyone was watching."  
  
"You're the one forgetting something," I said, fingering the Dream Crystal. Harry smirked and stuffed his hand into his pocket.  
  
"Now let go before--" Harry yanked out his wand, and the next moment, a thick cord wrapped itself around my mouth. I tried to tug it off, but it didn't work. Harry put his wand away and tackled me, sending both of us sprawling onto his bed.  
  
"You look funny cross-eyed," he told me, eyes sparkling. I glared at him, still trying to tug the cord off my mouth. Finally, I managed to pull it off enough to talk.  
  
"Hdi--" I began, but Harry started to tickle me in the stomach. I squirmed and kicked my legs, laughing manically.  
  
"S-s-stop!" I managed to giggle, tears running down my cheeks from laughing so hard.  
  
"Did you make my hair change colors?" asked Harry, persisting his attack.  
  
"If I say-- yes will you--" I gasped, laughing so hard I could barely get the words out.  
  
"I'll stop," agreed Harry.  
  
"O-k, o-k, I did--" I giggled. "Now s-s-stop!"  
  
"Counter curse?"  
  
"I d-don't kniw!" I wheezed, trying to push Harry off me. "U-u-use Finite Incan-cantatem!"  
  
"Good idea," said Harry, grabbing his wand with one hand and tickling me with the other. "Finite Incantatem!"  
His hair stopped blinking colors, and the cord around my neck vanished.  
  
"S-stop now!" I laughed, starting to get a cramp in my stomach.  
  
"Alright," sighed Harry, stopping. He didn't get off me, though.  
  
"Get off," I commanded. "First you drag me up here, then you gag and tackle me; I don't know why I'm still your girlfriend. If had had any common sense--"  
  
I stopped talking. There was an odd gleam in Harry's eyes that I'd never seen before.  
  
"Harry?" I said, waving a hand in front of his face.  
  
"I'll give you one reason why you're still my girlfriend." He grinned and bent down so our noses touched; I met his gaze and got lost in his eyes. Harry leaned down a bit more; our lips touched...  
  
"It's a perfect picture opportunity!" someone exclaimed. Harry's head jerked up, and so did mine. Ron was leaning on the wall near the door, a smug expression on his face. We scrambled up off the bed, a pinkish hue blossoming on our faces.  
  
"What're you doing up here?" asked Harry.  
  
"I came to check on where you two had gotten to," replied Ron, smirking. "And to ask when you were planning to post the results. Obviously much later; you're busy right now."  
  
Harry and I glanced at each other, then grabbed the nearest pillow and ran at Ron, who didn't dodge the pillows in time. We bombarded Ron until our arms went limp.  
  
"I feel better now," I stated. "Don't you?"  
  
"Yep," agreed Harry, tossing his pillow onto Ron's bed. I did, also.  
  
"I don't," stated Ron, who was curled up on the floor.  
"That's what you get for being a snoop," I scolded, blowing a strand of hair out of my face.  
  
"I was just wondering when Harry was going to post the results," whined Ron, standing up. "And so was half of the common room."  
  
"Hey, when are you going to post the results?" I asked Harry.  
  
"As soon as we get downstairs," he said, grabbing a piece of parchment out of a drawer.  
  
"Let's go, then," said Ron, heading down. I glanced at Harry.  
  
"Rain check?" I asked.  
  
"Sure," he replied. I put of hand on his shoulder and kissed his cheek.  
  
"There's your rain check," I said. "Now let's go down so you can post the results."  
  
We went down after Ron and saw that the common room was packed.  
  
"Finally!"  
  
"We've been waiting forever!"  
  
"Hurry up and post them!"  
  
"Alright, alright," said Harry, walking over to the bulletin board. As soon as he pinned that little piece of parchment up, a swarm of Gryffindors pushed him away. Laughing, he made his way back over to me.  
  
"That's scary," I said. "Really, really scary."  
  
"Hmm," said Harry. I turned to face him.  
  
"You might as well tell me," I told him. "I'm not about to throw myself into that death trap for Quidditch try-out results."  
  
"I dunno," teased Harry. "Give me one good reason why I should tell you."  
  
"'Cus you love me," I said. "And you've known me since we were babies."  
  
"I said one good reason," Harry said, wrapping an arm around my waist. "Not two horrible reasons."  
  
"I thought love conquered all," I said, resting my head on his shoulder.  
  
"Not in this dimension," replied Harry.  
  
"Fine," I said. "One good reason for you to tell me is because I kept you company at the Dursley's so you didn't have only Dudley to talk to."  
"True," said Harry thoughtfully. "Alright. I'll tell you. Ron's Keeper, Terrence Walker is reserve Keeper, Andriea and Zack are reserve Beaters, Hermione, Nicole, and Scarlett are reserve Chasers, and you're reserve Seeker."  
  
"No," I gasped. "I'm not-"  
  
"You are," said Harry. Just then, Ron and Hermione ran over.  
  
"This is wonderful!" squealed Hermione, giving Harry a quick hug. "We're all on the team!"  
  
"Now I'm really glad I came up when I did!" exclaimed Ron.  
  
"I would've posted them sooner or later," mumbled Harry.  
  
"So when are practices starting?" asked Hermione.  
  
"Next Friday," said Harry. "That'll leave me with enough time to come up with new moves."  
  
"Are you taking help?" I asked.  
  
"As much of it as I can get," he laughed.  
  
"Then count me in," I said.  
  
"Me too," said Hermione.  
  
"Don't forget me," added Ron.  
  
Time started to whiz by. One moment, I was waking up on Monday, and the next, I was heading towards the Quidditch Pitch with Ron, Harry, and Hermione on Friday after dinner. Then, before I knew it, it was Halloween, and the first Quidditch match (Ravenclaw vs. Slytherin) was the next Saturday.  
The Great Hall looked spectacular. The floating candles had been replaced with jack-o-lanterns, their menacing, carved grins leering down at us. Little pieces of black and orange confetti glided and whirled around in the air, disappearing before they hit the food. Bats fluttered around everywhere, scaring a first year girl into hysterics when one swooped down at her to catch the moth nesting in her hair.  
  
If the decorations were amazing, they were nothing compared to the food. Bowls of candy were placed along the table at intervals of three feet. In between these were all sorts of food; rotisserie chicken wings, honey roasted ham, steamed green beans, carrots, peas, baked and mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, garlic bread, and an assortment of other things.  
  
Harry, Ron, Hermione, and I took out seats and loaded our plates.  
  
"Reading about Halloween here is one thing," I sighed happily. "Living it is another."  
  
"So who do you think will win on Saturday?" Ron asked Harry.  
  
"I hope Ravenclaw," said Harry. "I heard Malfoy's captain of the Slytherin team. It would really wipe that nasty smirk off his face if his team got flattened."  
  
"Boys," muttered Hermione. I grinned, nudging her.  
  
"You don't seem to mind," I joked. "Especially not about a certain red-head-"  
  
"Shut up!" Hermione said, blushing.  
  
"You better get together soon," I said. Hermione, still flushed, kept quiet.  
Time started to behave strangely again. It seemed like only a second before everyone was filtering out onto the Quidditch field for the match.  
  
Lee Jordan was commentating, watched closely by Professor McGonagal.  
  
"Teams get into position; Chang and Malfoy shake hands- kick his pale ass, Cho! Hehe, only joking, Professor, only joking. The Quaffle is released, and the game begins! It's Smith from Ravenclaw- Travis- back to Smith- no, Smith drops it as Slytherin Beater Hunter pelts a bludger her way. Travis- Zabini- Travis again- he speeds towards the Ravenclaw goal posts- block him, come on- shoots, and misses! Excellent block by Ravenclaw Keeper Ruben. Quaffle in possession of Hunter- Smith- back to Hunter- he throws it to Velarine- she's speeding towards the Slytherin goal posts- come on, make it! Dodges a bludger, shoots, and she scores!" There was a thunderous round of applause from 3/4 of the stands which drowned out the Slytherin's boos. "Ten zero for Ravenclaw!"  
The match dragged on like this for a while; neither Seeker had spotted the Snitch. Before long, the score was 90 to 70 for Slytherin, and the roars of disapproval from most of the stands nearly shook the trees of the Forbidden Forest out of their roots. Travis scored again, making the score 100 to 70, when suddenly, Cho dived, Malfoy hot on her tail.  
  
"She'll never catch it, his broom's too fast!" yelled Ron, jumping up. The two Seekers were about four yards above the ground when Cho swerved to the right. Malfoy kept diving even though the Snitch wasn't where he thought it was; it was clasped tightly in Cho's raised hand.  
  
"Chang catches the Snitch!!" yelled Lee. "220 to 100 for Ravenclaw!!*  
  
Everyone from Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff clapped until their hands were numb, yelled until their throats were hoarse, and stomped their feet till their legs were sore. Malfoy looked as though he'd just swallowed a rotten egg.  
  
"That look is priceless!" yelled Ron.  
  
"I hope she doesn't use that move when we're playing them," remarked Harry, starring at Cho.  
  
"She might," I said. "We should have a counter to it, just in case."  
  
"Yeah," he mumbled. "We'll have plenty of time for that; the next match isn't for a while."  
  
"Yep," I agreed.  
Monday morning held a nasty shock for the wizarding world. Several gasps and cries of shock echoed through the Great Hall after the mail was delivered during breakfast.  
  
"Oh my God," gasped Hermione, choking on a small bit of toast.  
  
"What-?" asked Ron.  
  
"Look," she hissed, thrusting the Daily Prophet under his nose. His eyes widened, and he passed the Daily Prophet to Harry. I read it over his shoulder.  
  
You-Know-Who Back?  
  
Daily Prophet reporters find reason to think so. There have been several brutal attacks throughout the country, the victims being well-known or powerful wizarding families. Every time, the Dark Marks hovers above. WE also have had interviews with witches and wizads who claim to have witnessed one or more of these attacks.  
  
"It was horrible," stated one witness. "I walked past and heard screaming and crashing... I haven't been able to stop thinking about it."  
  
"It was You-Know-Who!" exclaimed another. "I saw the Dark Mark, and Death Eaters were swarming around the place."  
  
Despite all these overwhelming facts, our own Minister of Magic, Cornelious Fudge, refuses to believe that You-Know-Who has returned.  
  
"Just like him," I hissed.  
  
"Yeah," Harry agreed.  
  
"It's probably just one of his servants trying to make us believe he's back," is his excuse.  
  
This is all the information we have on the matter for now. In the meantime, we must wonder if Mr. Fudge's explanation for these terrible attacks will prove to be true, or if You-Know-Who has indeed returned. 


	14. Fourteenth Chapter

"Fudge is such an ass," I stated as Harry threw the paper down on the table.  
  
"Of course he is," said Harry. "I thought we'd established that earlier."  
  
"We didn't," I said. "Now we have."  
  
"Okay, if you say so," sighed Harry.  
  
"I do say so," I said, giggling. Harry shook his head, grinning.  
  
We began to notice a definite change after the Daily Prophet article was issued, mainly in the course of the classes. In Charms, we went over how to use the Impediment and Body Bind curses. In Transfiguration, we had to transfigure random things into large bushes or gnarled trees. In Potions, we started using more of the rarer lapi to make truth potions. Dark Arts was the most pressed subject; we learned everything from how to block curses to how to reflect them to the castor. Hermione was even struggling with the amount of work we'd been assigned. Of course, it was the Quidditch players who were feeling the most impact of the homework. It was a wonder how the fit in sleep between practice and school. The next match wasn't until January, but even so...  
The Daily Prophet kept publishing articles about Voldemort's return, which kept leading to more and more schoolwork. Ron was shredding a Daily Prophet into bits, blaming it for the crazy amount of work we'd been getting, when Hermione reminded him that the O.W.Ls weren't that far away.  
  
"They're not till June!" protested Ron.  
  
"That's barely seven months!" argued Hermione. "Less because of Christmas and Easter breaks."  
  
"Don't say it, Ron," I said as Ron opened his mouth. Harry laughed slightly as he worked on the Dark Arts homework.  
  
That was one of the few times I heard him laugh. At first, I had thought it had been because of the tremendous workload we'd been getting. Then, more than once, I caught him staring at Cho and Luke as they walked through the corridors hand in hand. I ignored it, until Ginny came up to me two weeks after the first Quidditch game.  
  
"You and Harry are going out, right?" she asked.  
  
"Yeah." I had completely forgotten that she had given me the cold shoulder for most of the year. "Why?"  
  
"No reason," she shrugged. "It's just, he's been staring at that Cho Chang girl a lot."  
  
"Mhm."  
  
"You've noticed?" Ginny said. "You should confront him about it."  
  
"Maybe I should," I said, more to myself than to Ginny. I turned around, but she had gone.  
That night, I sat next to Harry and waited for him to finish his homework.  
  
"What's up?" asked Harry.  
  
"Well..." How can I phase this? I thought desperately. "I'm wondering... do you still like Cho?"  
  
Harry stiffened. "Why would you say that?"  
  
"Well... lately, I've noticed you staring at her a lot," I mumbled. "I mean, it's perfectly all right if you still like her--"  
  
"What do you take me for, an idiot?" snapped Harry. "Can't you trust me?"  
  
I was completely taken aback. "You know I trust you."  
  
"You have a funny way of showing it," he hissed at me. "And why aren't we talking about you? I've seen you looking at that Luke kid."  
  
"I have not!" I exclaimed, jumping up. "How could you say that? I love you, Harry! You!"  
  
"Sure," he said skeptically. "Isn't part of love trust? If you love me, why are you accusing me of staring at another girl?"  
  
"I- I-" I stumbled for an answer. Why did I ask him? But before I could tell him, Harry grabbed all his things and bounded up the stairs to his dormitory.  
  
"Fine," I said to no one. "Be that way. I'm not going to be the one to grovel for the other's forgiveness."  
I was still in a touchy mood next morning. During breakfast, Ron and Hermione asked if I wanted them to talk to Harry for me; and I exploded at them.  
  
"I can take care of myself, thank you very much!" I yelled. I stood up from the table and did possibly the most moronic thing in my life; I walked over to the Slytherin table and plopped down right next to Malfoy.  
  
"Well this is a welcome surprise," sneered Malfoy.  
  
"Shut it, Malfoy," I snapped icily. His sneer vanished.  
  
"I always knew Potter was trouble," he said sadly, shaking his head. "You should've come to me right from the start."  
  
"What? Are you saying I should've been your girlfriend instead of Harry's?"  
  
"All along."  
  
"Me. Be your girlfriend." I raised my eyebrows. "Please. Malfoy, get real."  
  
"Shame," sighed Malfoy, his eyes glinting deviously. "I'd love to see Potter's face if he saw us holding hands."  
  
"Priceless, I'm sure," I said flatly. After a few moments of silence, I sighed. "Fine. I'll be your girlfriend. One condition; you don't say anything rude to Ron and Hermione. They're still my friends."  
"Alright," said Malfoy, leaning over and kissing me on the check. I gagged internally.  
  
From that point on marked some of the most miserable weeks of my life. Harry wasn't allowing me to come to practices anymore, all the Gryffindors(except Ron and Hermione) called me "the traitor," and Malfoy grabbed my hand whenever he saw a Gryffindor further up the halls and pulled me closer to him. The regular Daily Prophet articles didn't help. I never read them anymore, but Hermione always gave me a summary of the paper.  
  
"I can't believe this," she murmured. "They must be lying."  
  
"What?" I asked.  
  
"The Daily Prophet says that Lupin's gone missing." Harry and I had never told Hermione or Ron about Remus being my dad, so of course she wouldn't have known the effect those words had on me.  
  
"No... no, no, no," I muttered. "He can't be--"  
  
"It says that when the Ministry officials arrived at his house, all the furniture and stuff was thrown everywhere," continued Hermione, not hearing my ranting. "I hope he's alright..."  
  
I pushed my chair back forcefully, causing it to fall over with a loud clatter, and ran out of the Great Hall towards the Gryffindor Tower. Sobbing, I threw myself onto my bed when I reached my dormitory.  
Finally, it was Christmas break, and most of the Gryffindors had gone home. The few that remained still called me "traitor" whenever I passed them in the halls, but I didn't care anymore. My mind was concentrating on the only possibly way to escape this living hell called my life, but I hadn't decided whether or not to do it. It took me until Christmas to decide.  
  
I woke early on Christmas and opened the three gifts I had received. Ron had given me a bag of dungbombs with a note attached to them saying to plant them in Harry's bed; Hermione an assortment of candies; and Malfoy had given me a pure gold hair clip inlaid with small rubies, emeralds, amethyst pieces, and rhinestones. Trust him to give me something completely useless, I thought.  
  
Looking at the clock, I saw it was 6:43. I thought I'd better do it now before Hermione woke up and I changed my mind.  
  
Don't, said a voice. Ginny and Malfoy set you up, just so Harry would be free for Ginny and Malfoy would get you.  
  
I know, I told the voice. I think I've known all along. That's not why I'm doing it, anyway. Dad's probably dead. Plus, they deserve to see him.  
  
Don't, repeated the voice. Think of everything you'll miss--  
  
Nothing, I thought, and fiercely shoved the voice out of my mind. Nice try, DC.  
I ate a few chocolate frogs from the box of candy, then resignedly closed my eyes and recited:  
  
"Yeei allci pnoui heti Rmeadi, Rlystaci Orwepi  
  
Iyghtmi Orwepi, urleri foi llai  
  
Urler foi llai rseatureci, llai tsarsi, llai lsanetpi  
  
Oemci ohrtfi, Yeei unmmosi hetei!"  
  
I concentrated very, very hard, and when I felt some of my energy seep away, I opened my eyes.  
  
There, in front of me, was this amazing, shimmering being, every color imaginable vibrating in it.  
  
"What have you called me for?" it asked. Its voice was powerful and commanding, yet gentle and kind at the same time.  
  
"A while ago, Lily and James Potter's souls were trapped inside the Dream Crystal," I said. "Let them be free again, whole with their mortal bodies."  
  
The Power quivered, then disappeared, and I fell into blackness. Only for a moment, though. The next instant, I was rising towards the ceiling, able to see and hear again. I reached the ceiling, about to go through, but some force was tugging at me, pleading with me not to go. So, obligingly, I strayed, and I watched the chaos unfold below me.  
James and Lily were standing next to my bed. No, James was; Lily was kneeling, grasping the hand of my pale body, crying. James put a comforting hand on her shoulder.  
  
Barely a few moments later, Hermione woke up, looked at James, and screamed. All the girls in our dormitory had gone for the holiday, which was a good thing, for Harry and Ron rushed in to see what was wrong. Harry stopped short of his parents, all the color draining from his face.  
  
"What's going on?" he whispered. Then he saw my body, and his face became paler, if that was possible. In one stride, he was next to Lily, grasping my shoulders and hugging my body tight to him. Lily started crying again, which brought Harry back to Earth. He stared at her, then at James.  
  
"Would someone mind giving an explanation?" said Harry, Ron, and Hermione in unison. Lily managed a weak smile.  
  
"James, you take this one," she said. I could almost feel the wrench Harry's heart must've gotten when he heard he's father's name.  
  
"Alright, Lily." Another wrench for Harry's heart. "Well... I suppose you know about the Dream Crystal."  
  
They nodded.  
  
"Emerald..." James paused. "She used it to restore us to our physical form."  
  
"Can you be anymore vague?" Lily chided. She wiped a tear from her cheek, and said, "To begin with, Harry, we never were actually dead."  
  
"You-- you weren't?" he asked quietly. Lily nodded.  
  
"When Voldemort attacked us, I used the Dream Crystal to trap our souls in it until someone- Emerald- used it to release them. We never meant for her to actually do it, of course," Lily said. "I even told her not to. But she did, anyway. Harry, I'm so sorry..."  
  
"So she's dead," said Harry, looking at my pale face. He lifted the Dream Crystal and fingered it. "She sacrificed herself to bring you back."  
Lily's eyes widened as Harry played with the Dream Crystal.  
  
"I can't believe it," she whispered.  
  
"Can't believe what?" asked Ron.  
  
"The Dream Crystal is still around her neck," said Lily.  
  
"Doesn't it disappear when the owner dies?" asked James. His eyes widened as he said this. "You mean--"  
  
"Her spirit must be here still," murmured Lily. "She's not all the way dead."  
  
"There's a chance she might be able to live?" asked Harry hopefully.  
  
"Yes," breathed Lily. She looked around the room, mainly at the ceiling. "Emerald, if you're listening, please come back to your body. If you feel an upward tug when you get close, ignore it. Come back..."  
  
"Please," added James. Harry, Ron, and Hermione crossed their fingers. If I had been in my body, I would've cried. I looked at Harry's face, bright with hope, and that was enough to convince me. That, and I still owed him a rain check.  
  
I sped down toward my body; something tugged at me, telling me to come up. I ignored it, as Lily said to, and merged with my body.  
  
My eyes fluttered open, and as I stared up into Harry's face, I knew I had made the right choice.  
  
Harry, seeing my eyes open, yelled with joy and swept me up in a huge hug. I hugged him tightly back, tears squeezing out of my eyes. After a while, I pulled away.  
  
"Enough with the hugging of Emerald," I said, brushing away a tear and smiling. "More hugging of parents."  
  
I pushed Harry towards Lily the James, and they embraced them as tightly as he had hugged me, each of them crying. Ron, caught up in the moment, pulled Hermione out of bed and hugged her. I laughed through my tears, thinking, Everything's right, everything's as it should be.  
Soon, everyone broke apart and crowded around my bed. Harry sat next to me a clutched my hand in his, as though if he let go, I'd die.  
  
"Not so tight," I complained. "You're cutting off the circulation."  
  
Everyone laughed, and Harry loosened his grip.  
  
"I still can't believe it," said Harry. "Emerald--"  
  
"Happy Christmas," I said, grinning at him.  
  
"More than that," he said, grinning back and pulling me into another hug.  
  
"You owe her more than a hug, Harry," said Hermione. Ron grinned at her.  
  
"Yeah," he said. "What about that rain check?"  
"Well, I was the one who owed--" I was cut off in mid-sentence by Harry, who leaned his head down and... kissed me. Fireworks? Oh, no, much more than that. It was as if... as if I were floating in space, weightless, carefree... But that's a weak description... how it felt couldn't really be explained in words.  
  
Harry pulled away gently, pink blossoming in his cheeks. I grinned.  
  
"Talk about your happy Christmas," I said, only vaguely aware of the others' presences in the room. I pulled Harry close, hugging him tightly. "I'm sorry, Harry..."  
  
"For what?" he asked. "I'm the one who should be sorry."  
  
"Forgive and forget," I said. "How about it?"  
  
"Seal it with a kiss," laughed Ron. That made me remember who else was there in the room. Harry turned and looked at Ron.  
  
"Why don't you?" he said. "Go on."  
  
Ron turned red, and so did Hermione. Lily "ahem"ed. Guiltily, we turned to look at her and James, but instead of the stern look we were expecting, they looked as happy as possible. Tears brimmed around Lily's eyes.  
  
"I'm sorry." She grinned. "It's just-- this feels like when Remus and Kati visited."  
  
"Who's Kati?" asked Ron.  
  
"My mom," I told him, feeling a sting in the corners of my eyes. I ignored it and embraced Lily.  
  
"Thank you so much, Emerald," she whispered into my ear. I shrugged.  
  
"It was nothing," I replied, pulling away.  
"We should go see Dumbledore about this," said Hermione suddenly. "You know, tell him what's going on."  
  
"You're right," said James. Lily stood up next to him.  
  
"You know," I said thoughtfully, "we should cover James and Lily with the Invisibility Cloak. It would look kind of weird if two people who were supposed to be dead were wandering around the halls."  
  
"You have it?" asked James. I shook my head.  
  
"Harry does," I answered.  
  
Five minutes later, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and I walked down the corridors towards Dumbledore's office. Lily and James were concealed under the cloak, following us closely.  
  
When we reached the stone gargoyle, Harry gave the password, and all of us stepped onto the staircase, reaching the oaken door a few moments later. I knocked softly, waited a few seconds, then pushed the door open.  
Dumbledore was sitting on his desk, scribbling a short note. He looked up as we came in and rested the quill on the parchment.  
  
"Hello," he said. "What brings you four up here at this time?"  
  
"Well," started Hermione, unsure of how to explain.  
  
"Brace yourself," I said, then I nudged the space behind me where Lily was. She took the hint, and the invisibility cloak fell away from her and James. Dumbledore stared at them unbelievingly.  
  
"I would be much obliged," he said carefully after a few seconds, "if you would explain this all."  
  
With the help of Ron, Harry, Hermione, James, and Lily, I did. Gradually, the confused look faded from Dumbledore's face as the story unraveled. Understanding (or was it comprehension?) took its place.  
When I finished, Dumbledore smiled softly at James and Lily. I noticed how tired he look; he must have been really busy lately trying to suppress Voldemort.  
  
"I'm happy to have both of you back," said Dumbledore. "However, I'm afraid you can't stay at Hogwarts. Perhaps it would be better if you could stay with Sirius."  
  
"Sirius?" James sounded hopeful, his blue eyes glittering.  
  
"Then let's go," said Lily happily. "And I better not wake up to find and Dungbombs in my bed."  
  
"That was in 7th year!" protested James, sounding exactly like Harry. I grinned slightly.  
  
"I'll arrange for the Knight Bus to meet you in Hogsmeade tomorrow," said Dumbledore. "They'll know where to take you."  
  
We all smiled broadly. "Thank you, sir," I said as Lily and James disappeared back under the cloak. He nodded, then took up the quill and started writing again. We made our way back to the Gryffindor girl's dormitoy, Lily and James throwing the cloak off as soon as we entered.  
  
"I feel like I've had too much egg nogg," I giggled as Harry and I plopped down onto my bed. Hermione and Ron sat next to us; James and Lily sat on Hermione's bed, heads together, talking quietly.  
  
Glancing at Ron and Hermione for a second, I whispered something into Harry's ear. He grinned and nodded in agreement, pulling out his wand. I pulled out mine, too. Ron and Hermione were looking at us, confused.  
  
"So," I said, nearly choking on giggles, "are you two gonna kiss, or are we gonna have to make you?"  
  
"What?" they exclaimed.  
  
"Go ahead," prodded Harry. "Kiss him. I know you want to, and I know he wants to."  
  
"Harry," began Hermione, turning bright pink, "I--"  
  
Suddenly, Ron leaned forward and pressed his lips to Hermione's. She looked surprised for a moment, then closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around Ron's neck. Giggling, I grabbed Harry's hand and led him down into the empty common room. He sat down on an armchair facing the fire, and I curled up on his lap, resting my head back onto his shoulder. Harry laced his hands around my waist and hugged me tightly to him.  
  
"Can we never fight again?" I asked, my eyes closed.  
  
"Absolutely," Harry answered, kissing my cheek. I turned my head towards him, my lips finding his. Our second kiss lasted a little longer than our first because no one was watching.  
  
"I love you," whispered Harry after we broke away.  
  
"I love you, too," I replied, gazing into the flames. We stayed curled up in front of the fire until Ron and Hermione came down, hand in hand.  
  
"We should, er, go get some breakfast," said Hermione, her cheeks still pinkish.  
  
"Let's bring it back here," suggested Harry as we got up.  
  
A few moments later, Ron, Hermione, Harry, and I returned to the Gryffindor Tower with our arms loaded with knapsack-fulls of bacon, toast, pancakes, biscuits, hash browns, pumpkin juice, plates, and napkins. We carried it all up to the girls' dormitory, dumped it on the floor, and had a mini-feast with James and Lily. After breakfast, Harry and I returned to our armchair in front of the fire.  
  
About an hour later, Ron and Hermione shook us out of a sleep neither of us remembered falling into.  
  
"Let's go outside," grinned Ron.  
  
"What about--?" I asked drowsily.  
  
"They're under the Cloak," explained Hermione, grabbing my wrist and hauling me out of my cozy position. "C'mon!"  
  
Harry yawned, then rose and wrapped an arm defensively around me. "Let's go then." 


	15. Fifteenth Chapter

Ron, Hermione, Harry, and I trudged out onto the grounds, where the snow glistened, blindingly white, like a gigantic fluffy blanket covering the ground. My eyes took a few seconds to adjust to the crisp lighting, and in those seconds, five snowballs all came hurtling in my direction, making me stumble back into Harry.  
  
"That wasn't nice," I complained, shaking snow out of my hair. "Why do you always gang up on me?"  
  
Ron shrugged. "It's fun."  
  
"Well, in that case," I laughed, swooped down, grabbed a handful of snow, packed it into a ball, and hurled it at Ron. "Can you say frostbite, Ron?" I teased. He blinked and wiped the snow from his face, grinning.  
  
Our snowball fight lasted for a good two hours, Lily and James finally emerging from under the Cloak after the first hour. When we went back inside the castle (Lily and James were once again concealed under the Cloak), all of us were cold and bantering good-naturedly with each other.  
The time until the Christmas feast felt like nothing. Ron, Hermione, Harry, and I only went down after Lily and James told us they'd grab something from the kitchens. Of course, the feast went by just as quickly; thankfully, because I could feel Draco Malfoy's fierce gray eyes boring holes into my back the whole time. Despite this, we came back light-hearted and giggling, carrying the prizes from the wizard crackers.  
  
When I ran up to my dormitory to drop everything off, I saw Lily and James sleeping peacefully in each other's arms. Smiling softly, I drew the curtains around them (they were sleeping in my bed) and bounded back down the stairs, flinging my arms around Harry. He toppled back onto the couch, looking alarmed as I slumped onto the ground and started laughing.  
  
"You really have had too much egg nogg," snickered Hermione. I shook my head.  
  
"I'm just hyper!" I told her. "When I'm hyper and have nothing to do, I get... odd..."  
  
"More so than usual?" inquired Ron. I threw a pillow at him, slamming him in the stomach. He grinned broadly. "Bored, huh?"  
"Oh, no," I said, knowing what he meant. "I had enough during the snowball fight."  
  
"But you said you were bored," added Harry, twining his arms around my shoulders.  
  
"No; I said I had nothing to do," I corrected him. He shrugged and slid down next to me.  
  
"Same difference." I glanced towards him and noticed that familiar glint in his eyes which meant he was up to something.  
  
"I know that look," I said. "Don't you dare--"  
  
Harry tackled me, pinned my arms behind my back with one hand, and started to tickle me with the other. I squirmed, laughing crazily, as Ron and Hermione started to whap me with pillows.  
  
"Why do you always," I giggled, "gang up on me?"  
  
"'Cus it's fun," Harry whispered in my ear.  
  
"Not for me!" I exclaimed, pulling my hands out of his grasp. I turned, tackled Harry, and kissed him lightly on the forehead. Then, as I heard the swish of air that said someone was readying a pillow attack, I rolled to one side. A second later, Hermione brought her pillow down on Harry's face. I fell over laughing.  
"It's not funny!" said Harry, glaring at me, his glasses dangling from one ear.  
  
"Yes it is!" I giggled, clutching my sides. Harry sat up and tried to grab my wrist, but I scrambled to my feet, dodged his hand, and flung myself up the staircase and into my dormitory. Soon after, Ron, Harry, and Hermione followed, but stopped, like I had, as soon as they entered.  
  
Lily and James were still lying asleep on my bed in each other's arms. They looked so peaceful; we didn't want to wake them. But, just as we were leaving, Lily woke up, rubbing her eyes.  
  
"There you all are," she yawned. "Took you all long enough to come back up here."  
  
Lily nudged James awake, then said, "Sit down! We need to catch up on what's been happening the past fifteen years."  
  
Harry, Ron, Hermione, and I all took a seat on Hermione's bed, made ourselves comfortable, and spent the next four or five hours talking. We mainly talked about what had happened at Hogwarts, because Harry summed up his first ten years with the Dursley's in less that five minutes.  
  
"See? Aren't you glad now that I put that bag of Dungbombs in Petunia's pillow? James asked Lily. Lily shook her head, laughing.  
  
"That's probably one of the reasons she treated Harry like that," Lily replied. "So anyways... tell us about your first year.."  
  
Hour after hour flew by as we told Lily and James about the Sorcerer's Stone fiasco with Quirrel, and then the Chamber of Secrets adventure, then the meeting with Sirius and the revealing of "Scabbers," and finally, the rebirthing of Voldemort the previous year. Harry became suddenly silent when we started to talk about it, so I had to tell most of the story.  
"That horrible bas--"  
  
"Lily!" said James, astonished. Lily went pink. I glanced at Harry, not knowing whether to look stern or to grin.  
  
"Well," said Hermione awkwardly after a few moments, "that's about all that's happened to us... except the arrival of Emerald over the summer."  
  
"You don't have to tell us about that; we know what happened," said Lily, glancing at the clock. "Wow, is it 11 already? I don't even feel tired... but we all should get to bed."  
  
"Yeah," I agreed, yawning. As Ron and Harry left, I called a sleepy, "G'night." Lily and James rose from my bed and situated themselves on a vacant one, and I lay down on my bed. Hugging my pillow, I fell asleep in seconds.  
  
"What were you thinking?" exclaimed D.C. as soon as the mist surrounded me. "You could have been killed!"  
  
"That was the original plan," I said sheepishly. "But I'm still alive, aren't I?"  
  
"Yes," sighed D.C exasperatedly, "but promise me you'll never do that again unless absolutely necessary!"  
  
"OK, I promise," I said. Suddenly, the mist dropped away, leaving me in complete blackness.  
What felt like a few moments later, I opened my eyes to find myself in a small, dark, damp room. The walls, floor, and ceiling were made out of grey stone; moss covered most of the stones. The only light in the room came from what shone in through the tiny, barred window on the door. I was in a dungeon cell.  
  
I looked around behind me, wondering if it was only a dream, and saw a pale-faced man, sleeping right now, with his wrists chained to the wall. Though he was dirty and wearing tattered clothing, I realized who he was in an instant.  
  
"Dad!" I whispered. I ran over to him, kneeled down, and put my hand on his shoulder. It went right through him So I was dreaming...  
  
The sound of faint footsteps jostled me out of my thoughts. They got louder as the seconds passed, and a shadow soon passed in front of the door. A key clicked in the lock, and the door swung open.  
Victoria and Pristina were standing in the doorway, holding their wands and looking absolutely disgusted.  
  
"I hate being down here," complained Pristina, glaring at my dad.  
  
"Father said we have to," sighed Victoria. She twirled her wand in her fingers absentmindedly. "But I hate it down here, too. It's so dirty and grimy."  
  
"Honestly," replied Pristina. Sighing, she added, "I suppose it's best..."  
  
"Yes, you're right," agreed Victoria. "We'll need all the practice we can get if we're to become as great as Father."  
  
You mean as horrible, I thought with disgust.  
  
"Then let's start. The faster we finish this, the faster we can go."  
  
"Let's," answered Victoria. She pointed her wand at the slumped-over figure of my dad. "Ennervate"  
  
He stirred, groaning a little. Looking up at the two in the doorway, his eyes flared, and he said roughly, "What do you want?"  
  
"An answer to a simple question."  
  
"What's Dumbledore planning?"  
  
"Probably dinner, right about now." I grinned, glad to know my dad still had a sense of humor.  
  
"You know what I mean, smart-ass. What's he planning to counterattack our father with?"  
"I'm not going to tell you."  
  
"You will, in time," sneered Pristina. She raised her wand, aimed its tip at my dad, and shouted, "Crucio!"  
  
"No!!" I screamed, trying to get in front of my dad to block it. The beam went right through me, however, and I watched helplessly as my dad screamed and writhed, as Victoria and Pristina watched his agony calmly... and then I woke up.  
  
It was still dark out, and the dormitory was quiet. I flung the sheets of my bed off me and bolted down into the common room, just as Harry entered.  
  
"You too?" Harry asked breathlessly. I nodded, then flung myself into his arms, sobbing.  
  
"Those evil... those evil creatures!" I finally exclaimed, wiping my eyes and hiccupping. "I can't believe I thought they were my friends!  
  
"I know, I know," Harry whispered soothingly, stroking my hair. "It's alright..."  
  
"No it's not!" I said fiercely. "I swear, if they.... if they...." I shuddered. "I'll kill them!!"  
  
"Calm down." Harry hugged me tightly to him, and I could feel his body shaking, his heart thudding against his chest. "I'm sure he'll be alright."  
  
I let out a shaky breath, unclenching my fists and letting them fall limply to my sides. "I'm sorry. that was really selfish of me... I just... seeing him in pain was too much.... I totally lost it..."  
  
"You're upset, and I don't blame you for it," Harry assured me, kissing the top of my head. I hugged him tightly, fighting back another wave of tears.  
"Harry. I don't. I'm not going to be able to go back to sleep tonight."  
"Me, either," he sighed. "How about we just stay down here for a while?"  
"Sounds good to me." Harry and I walked over to one of the couches and curled up on it. I rested my head on his shoulder, my eyes half-closed, listening to the soft crackling of the fire. My breathing slowed to a peaceful rate, and my eyes closed.  
"Thank you," I murmured to Harry, "for staying with me."  
"Any time," he whispered back. I grinned sleepily and nestled in a little closer to him. Whether it was because Harry's arms around my waist were warmer and more comforting than a fleece blanket, or if I just wanted to fall asleep like this, or both, I'll probably never find out, because sleep stole quickly over me in the next few moments.  
The next thing I knew, I was being shaken softly awake by someone whispering, "Wake up before you miss them go! They're leaving soon."  
I yawned deeply, stretching the sleepiness from my limbs, and sat up. Bleary eyed, I glanced quickly around the common room. Lily and James were standing by the fire, wrapped in dark green cloaks and carrying a small suitcase each. 


End file.
